Public health measures implemented in schools and daycare settings are intended to provide a safer school environment by encouraging personal protective measures, communication to teachers and parents, and environmental cleaning. Public Health Guidance for Schools (K-12) and Childcare Programs (COVID-19) is available. Given the current epidemiology of the virus, it is unknown what role children play in community transmission of COVID-19, therefore the impact of school mitigation measures on community transmission of COVID-19 is uncertain, though strategies such as more frequent hand washing, respiratory etiquette and separation of ill students from healthy students is always prudent.

School/daycare measures can vary in scope from very simple measures (e.g. increasing distancing between desks) through to more extensive measures, such as closures. Widespread school closures as a control measure have the potential of coming at a high economic and social cost since school closures would impact the many families that have one or both parents working outside of the home. School closures can reduce virus transmission, but the timing and duration of the closure is critical (before the peak of the epidemic), and later closures could be ineffective and be socially disruptive. Consideration also needs to be given to the likeliness that students will congregate elsewhere in less controlled environments, thus reducing the intended benefits of school closures and potentially shifting the transmission of the virus to other community settings.

Table 2: Definition of terms relevant to school measures

School mitigation measures are implemented to reduce the unintended consequences of school closures or dismissal. The following strategies can be considered:

• Strict exclusion policies for students exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19
• Increasing desk distance between students
• Cancelling or postponing after-school events
• Restricting access to common areas
• Staggering the school schedule to limit the numbers of students/children in attendance at one time (e.g. staggered lunch breaks, recesses)
• Reducing mixing students during transport to and from school (separation of children on school buses by 2 meters where possible)
• dividing classes into smaller groups
• cancelling classes that bring students together from multiple classrooms

Class dismissal is intended to serve the purpose of mitigating some of the unintended consequences resulting in school closures e.g. parents/caregivers who miss work to take care of children can have negative financial implications and students/children who access free school meals could be negatively impacted if those meals are not otherwise available.^Footnotexi Additionally, keeping facilities open will allow teachers to consider delivering lessons and material remotely, maintaining continuity with teaching and learning.^Footnotexii

School closure decisions should be made in consultation with local public health authorities and based on a risk assessment. Closure considerations should include:

• The priority goal of minimizing social disruption and child safety
• Epidemiology and transmissibility of the disease
• Contact patterns in the school/childcare program
• Amount of contact between individuals within the environment
• Size of classrooms
• Interaction of students between classes
• The impact of certain programs (e.g., school meal programs) on families who access them.
• Innate protective factors built into schools and childcare settings including:
  • A forum to educate, inform and communicate with students/ children and their families in an efficient and timely manner.
  • A defined structure to support the economic and social elements of the community by allowing parents to continue to work and volunteer.

Reactive school closures are in response to virus activity (i.e. a consequence of disease activity) impacting the safe functioning of the school due to increased staff absenteeism and co-infection potential among students. Considerations should include:

• The number of ill students/children and staff.
• The impact of school absenteeism and/or staff shortages on schools/childcare operations.

Proactive school closures may be considered to interrupt the transmission amongst children and indirectly protect other age groups who may be vulnerable to COVID-19. The decision about the school closure at local/regional/national level will largely depend on the timing and epidemiological situation. Considerations should include:

• The timing of school/daycare closures in relation to the epidemic peak is an important consideration.
• School closures of less than 2 weeks have been shown to have minimal impact on disruption of virus transmission in communities.
• Holiday schedules should also be considered as opportunistic (i.e. early closures).