Is New York the Safest State For Reopening Schools?

This school year is much different than others due to COVID-19. Some students are in a classroom, while others are home, and some are doing a combination of both. Is New York the safest state for reopening schools?

While students throughout the country adjust to a new way of learning, there's a risk of a decrease in academic progress for those who are lacking in-person learning. Not having interaction with other students and the feel of a classroom can be damaging to mental health and social development.

With the current guidelines from the CDC, a state should not resume full-time in-person schooling until the presence of COVID-19 is sufficiently minimized in that state.

Wallethub broke down the numbers and compared each of the 50 states across 15 key metrics. They set ranges on the data from the number of child COVID-19 cases per 100,000 children, the average school class size, and the ratio of students to school nurses.

According to this study, New York was roughly in the middle, being ranked as the 22nd safest state for reopening schools. New York was just ahead of Alaska and just behind Iowa.

The safest states for reopening schools according to this study in order are Vermont, Maine, and Pennsylvania.

School Reopening Safety in New York:

• 6^th – COVID-19 Cases in the Last Seven Days per 100,000 Residents
• 38^th – Share of K-12 Public School Students Transported Through School Transportation
• 26^th – Average Public-School Class Size
• 7^th – Pupil-Teacher Ratio
• 45^th – Share of Seniors Living with School-Age Children
• 46^th – Share of Children Living in Crowded Housing
• 8^th – Overall Likelihood of COVID-19 Infections
• 12^th – Student-to-School-Nurse Ratio