NASN Statement on Updated CDC Guidance

on COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools

Webinar: COVID-19 Prevention for

K-12 Schools – Updated Guidance

3 PM to 4:15 PM EST

Tuesday, July 20

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the Council of Chief State School Officers will host a Town Hall on implementing CDC’s Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools. We invite state and local education and health leaders to join this interactive Town Hall that features an overview of the guidance by CDC’s Sarah M. Lee, PhD, from the Healthy Schools Branch, followed by a question and answer session with panelists and attendees. Attendees have the opportunity to submit questions in advance of the Town Hall and are encouraged to review the CDC updated Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools and the updated CDC Science Brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools.

The guidance released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes the need for localities to monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening, testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies in K-12 schools during the coming academic year.

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) strongly encourages school districts to leverage the public health expertise of their school nurses when determining the appropriate COVID-19 prevention protocols as outlined by the CDC.

“Throughout the past 16 months, school nurses have played a vital role in helping school districts navigate through the pandemic by developing plans to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and testing, tracking and vaccinating students and school personnel,” said NASN President Linda Mendonca, DNP, RN, PHNA-BC, NCSN, FNASN. “As school districts consider the CDC’s updated guidance in preparation for the 2021-2022 academic year, school nurses are eager to partner with administrators, teachers and other support personnel to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect everyone’s health.”

For districts operating schools without access to a full-time school nurse, NASN noted that significant federal funding has been made available to encourage school districts to hire more school nurses through the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, as well as the $500 million specifically identified for hiring school nurses through investments in public health staffing administered by the CDC. A recent Washington Post article highlighted that, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 52 percent of public schools had a full-time nurse during the 2015-2016 school year (the last year for which data was available).

About NASN:

The National Association of School Nurses is a non-profit specialty nursing organization, representing school nurses exclusively. NASN has more than 18,000 members and 50 affiliates, including one in the District of Columbia and one serving school nurses overseas. The mission of NASN is to optimize student health and learning by advancing the practice of school nursing. Please visit us at www.nasn.org.

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