School Reopening Tracker: Fall 2020 Plans for the Largest U.S. Districts

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shaken educational systems around the world, sending 290 million students home to end the 2019-20 academic year.

Now facing fall with a forebodingly similar outlook, K-12 school districts are scrambling to devise effective plans. Some find that students in high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools should each be treated differently. Others are surveying families in their schools to share their opinions before they decide. Others still brazenly plan to move forward.

This summer, we’ll be tracking the largest school districts across the country to see what some of the most influential leaders in education will decide for their communities this fall. Together, the outcomes in these areas will affect over 8 million students.

The darker colors signify a decision or announcement. As districts decide, we’ll show green segments as closer to a full reopen, yellow to a hybrid model, and red to a full close. Meantime, lighter and grayer colors indicate that no major updates have been shared.

July 28 update: Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in this chart as many large districts have walked back their plans to reopen. We saw these changes especially in states like Florida, Colorado, Maryland, and the Carolinas. Some factors cited for these decisions include calls from state and local health officials, community survey results, or new data on the spread of COVID-19.

Here’s a breakdown by district, updated daily.

These districts were selected for having the highest population according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Links are to a combination of district announcement pages and local news, prioritized based on recency and authority.