As schools face continuing questions about sustainably protecting even the most vulnerable groups from COVID, our newly updated toolkit aims to provide accurate, fact-checked information and up-to-date research summaries to help schools and communities make decisions that will keep ALL members of school communities safe. This toolkit emphasizes ways we can prioritize health and well-being in our schools, recognizing that collective, rather than individual, approaches are the best way to mitigate the harms of an airborne virus.
Normal should not mean accepting perpetually high rates of COVID-related illness, chronic disability, and death. The turbulence of the pandemic can motivate us to recognize and rectify pre-existing disparities. Two years into the pandemic, we have the knowledge and means to do just that. We can take measures to keep schools and communities safer and begin to move towards a new normal–one that values the lives of our most vulnerable members.
The #UrgencyofEquity Toolkit was developed by a coalition of public health experts and grassroots organizations to help educators, parents, and communities advocate for safer, equitable schools, and separate fact from fiction about COVID-19 protections. It will continue to be updated as new science and information is available.