A List of the 71 Largest COVID-19 School Closures

As of August 5, 71 of the nation’s 120 largest school districts are planning to begin the school year providing remote learning only and no in-person instruction, according to a FREOPP review of school reopening plans. Approximately 7 million children living in these large school districts—including an estimated 1.4 million students from low-income households—will start the year learning from home.

This analysis is consistent with other reviews of school districts’ current plans for the 2020–21 school year. For example, Education Week established a database tracking school district reopening plans, which shows that a majority of school districts are providing remote learning only.

Methodology and findings

School districts across the United States are issuing plans for the start of the 2020–21 school year. District leaders and school boards are weighing public health guidance, state and local government guidelines for COVID-19, and parent and teacher feedback.

To better understand how schools will reopen in August and September, FREOPP analyzed the reopening plans and status of the 120 largest school districts in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

We estimated the impact on students based on 2016 enrollment counts and estimated percentages of children living in poverty in the districts at that time. (2016 is the most recent year that federal data is available from NCES.)

Our methodology involved reviewing the school district’s website and reopening plan, if available, and also analyzing local news coverage of the school districts’ current plans for the upcoming school year. The school districts plans could be categorized in three ways: 1) providing in-person learning, 2) offering hybrid learning options (including partial in-person instruction or options for either in-person or remote learning), and 3) full time remote learning.

Based on our review (conducted over the weekend of August 1st and 2nd and updated on August 5th), 71 out of 120 of the nation’s largest school districts will begin the school year with remote learning only. As a result, an estimated 7.0 million students in these school districts will begin the school year at home. Based on federal estimates of the percentage of students living in poverty in those districts as of 2016, more than 1.4 million low-income children are currently assigned to remote learning.

(Note: We will be updating this table throughout the month of August as school plans are updated. Some states are reviewing statewide school reopening orders, which have required remote learning based on current public health concerns. Several districts and school boards currently scheduled to begin with remote learning are considering starting in-person instruction in late August or September, depending on the public health outlook.)

The risks of prolonged school closures

The educational and social risks of prolonged school closures to children from low socioeconomic backgrounds is well established. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently warned:

Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality.

McKinsey analyzed the effect of different potential pandemic scenarios and projected that low-income children will lose more than a year’s worth of learning if school closures and part-time schedules continue through the fall of 2020.

Policy considerations

Congress is currently debating competing funding packages to support K-12 education during the COVID-19 pandemic. House Democrats have advanced legislation to provide $90 billion for a state “fiscal stabilization fund” for education, including $58 billion to support K-12 public school systems during the pandemic. Senate Republicans have proposed spending $70 billion on an “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief” fund and providing $5 billion to the nation’s governors. Two-thirds of the $70 billion fund would be reserved to support in-person learning.

New federal funding assistance for K-12 education should address current needs for the start of the fall 2020–21 school year, recognizing that millions of children are likely to begin the year learning from home. For a discussion of policy options to support in-person, hybrid and remote learning, see FREOPP’s working paper, Reopening America’s Schools and Colleges During COVID-19.