Assessment of US Public School District Policies for Pandemic Preparedness and Implications for COVID-19 Response Activities.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
; 16(4): 1362-1368, 2022 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1137708
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To describe school district preparedness for school closures and other relevant strategies before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.METHODS:
A stratified random sample of 957 public school districts from the 50 US states and the District of Columbia were surveyed between October 2015 and August 2016. The response rates for the questionnaires were as follows Healthy and Safe School Environment, Crisis Preparedness Module (60%; N = 572), Nutrition Services (63%; N = 599), and Health Services (64%; N = 613). Data were analyzed using descriptive and regression techniques.RESULTS:
Most school districts had procedures that would facilitate the implementation of school closures (88.7%). Fewer districts had plans for ensuring continuity of education (43.0%) or feeding students during closure (33.8%). The prevalence of continuity of education plans was lower in the Midwest than the Northeast (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.51-0.90). Presence of plans for feeding students was higher in high-poverty than low-poverty districts (aPR = 1.41; 95% CI 1.01-1.99) and in large districts than small districts (aPR = 2.06; 95% CI 1.37-3.09).CONCLUSIONS:
Understanding factors associated with having comprehensive emergency plans could help decision makers to target assistance during the current COVID-19 pandemic and for future planning purposes.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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