Alabama

• Districts submitted reopening plans to the state department of education. 

• Large districts that make up about half the statewide student population began the year digital-only.

• Governor’s extension of emergency order requires all educational institutions to comply with social distancing, sanitation and facial covering rules. 

Arkansas

• Districts posted online and submitted their district support plans to state Division of Elementary and Secondary Education by September 1 deadline.

• Division advised that schools must be ready to provide blended instruction.

• Governor delayed school start date from August 13 to the week of August 24.

• Governor’s Executive Order mandating face coverings for everyone age 10 and above required to be adopted in policy by school districts.

Delaware

• Governor announced that schools could begin the year under a hybrid scenario with a mix of in-person and remote instruction plus safety precautions.

• Reopening guidance from the state department of education also recommended certain prioritized uses of federal recovery funding by districts to support academic priorities.

• Delaware State Education Association called for school years to begin remotely.

Florida

• Deadline for districts to submit plans for approval to state department of education was July 31.

• Commissioner’s emergency order requires districts to provide for full in-person instruction and full student services. Many districts negotiated plans to reopen in accordance with Commissioner’s order.

• Courts struck down the portions of the commissioner’s emergency order that required all schools to be open five days per week and provide full services for all students, and that required department approval of reopening plans. The case is under appeal. 

Georgia

• Decisions, including start dates, left to school districts.

• Districts reopened starting beginning of August, some delayed reopening date.

• Most districts in metropolitan areas opened later than planned with digital-only instruction and subsequent phased reintroduction of in-person instruction.

Kentucky

• Decisions left to school districts.

• Limits lifted for 2020-21 on non-traditional instruction days and emergency staff leave days.

• Kentucky governor asked schools to delay in-person instruction to the end of September.

• Public health commissioner recommended that schools in high-incidence areas, as indicated on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, take additional safety measures or, at the highest incidence rates, move to digital-only instruction.

Louisiana

• Superintendent required districts to submit reopening plans to state department of education.

• By legislative directive, the state board of education adopted minimum school reopening health and safety standards.

Maryland

• State reviewed all reopening plans to ensure they meet state department of education requirements.

• All school districts began their year with digital-only instruction.

• Governor and state superintendent of education authorized all schools to safely reopen in late August.

Mississippi

• Scheduling decisions made at district level, including first/last days and school holidays. State board of education provided districts three options for reopening — hybrid, in-person and virtual — and reduced required daily instructional hours from 5.5 to 4. 

• State board permitted districts to waive up to 10 of the required 180 instructional days in 2020-21.

• District recovery plans were reported to state department of education by July 31.

• Governor delayed to August 17 the start of the school year for students in grades 7-12 in eight counties.

North Carolina                                                 

• Governor mandated that schools open under model with blended instruction, limited school capacities, distancing; districts may choose all-digital instruction to begin year.

• Each district was required to submit a remote instruction plan to state board of education by July 20.

• First day of instruction for most public schools was August 17.

Oklahoma

• District reopening plans range from mostly full in-person instruction to all-digital.

• State board of education voted to provide its school safety protocols as recommendations, rather than requirements; there are five different recommended protocols based on the local case rate per population.

• Governor ordered state department of health and the state department of education to develop a plan for monthly or more frequent COVID testing for all teachers and school employees.

South Carolina

• Districts submitted reopening plans to state department of education by July 17 for state superintendent of education’s approval.

• In accordance with the AccelerateED Task Force recommendations for 2020-21, plans were required to provide virtual and in-person learning options for all students.

• Districts provide information on their current operational status to the state; data used to update department’s current operational status map.

• State superintendent granted authority by the legislature to: waive testing, assessment and reporting requirements; count distance learning days toward the required 180 instructional days; and provide programmatic and financial flexibility.

Tennessee       

• Decisions left to school districts; state department of education guidance specifies it is not state mandates.

• Governor’s reopening recommendations stress resumption of in-person learning as preferred option.

• State department school reopening dashboard tracks information on reopening model by school as well as reported student and school staff COVID cases.

Texas

• School boards control their district calendar, set their school year start date, may limit on-campus instruction for first eight weeks at local board discretion.

• Attorney General ruled that local health authorities may not issue blanket school closure orders.

• Regardless of reopening model, local boards required to meet attendance and enrollment measurement requirements to receive state funding.

Virginia

• Districts were required to submit a public health mitigation strategy plan to state department of education before Phase II or Phase III reopening.

• All districts were required to submit plan for providing student instruction to department, regardless of the district’s operating status.

• Governor’s Phase Guidance for Virginia Schools stressed schools gradually resuming in-person instruction while prioritizing the health and safety of students and staff to bring them back to the classroom as soon as safe/practicable.

• The 14 largest districts reopened with digital-only instruction. 

West Virginia

• State reentry guidance to school systems included due date for plans to state department of education as August 14, districts choose reopening model.

• Governor announced target date of September 8 for school reopening.

• Governor ordered all public and private PreK-12 schools to observe the state department of health and human resources reentry metrics and protocols for determining a return to in-person instruction.