Causes, characteristics, and patterns of prolonged unplanned school closures prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-United States, 2011-2019.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Outside of pandemics, there is little information about occurrence of prolonged unplanned K-12 school closures (PUSC). We describe here the reasons, characteristics, and patterns of PUSC in the United States during 8 consecutive inter-pandemic academic years, 2011-2019.

Methods

From August 1, 2011 through June 30, 2019, daily systematic online searches were conducted to collect data on publicly announced unplanned school closures lasting ≥1 school days in the United States. Closures were categorized as prolonged when schools were closed for ≥5 unplanned days (approximating one full workweek), excluding weekends and scheduled days off per school calendars.

Results

During the eight academic years, a total of 22,112 PUSCs were identified, affecting over 800,

SUBMITTER: Jahan FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9337642 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature