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A review of data from K-12 schools that reopened for in-person instruction in the fall has found little evidence that schools contributed meaningfully to the spread of COVID-19, according to a new article published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association. The review from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, authored by three of its scientists, represents the clearest view yet of the facts behind what has become a heated debate over when and how schools should reopen. (Turner, 1/26)

Schools operating in person have seen scant transmission of the coronavirus, particularly when masks and distancing are employed, but some indoor athletics have led to infections and should be curtailed if schools want to operate safely, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in papers published Tuesday. The CDC team reviewed data from studies in the United States and abroad and found the experience in schools differed from nursing homes and high-density work sites where rapid spread has occurred. (Meckler, 1/26)

Open schools. Close indoor dining. When to keep schools open, and how to do so, has been an issue plaguing the response by the United States to the pandemic since its beginning. President Biden vowed to “teach our children in safe schools” in his inaugural address. On Tuesday, federal health officials weighed in with a call for returning children to the nation’s classrooms as soon as possible, saying the “preponderance of available evidence” indicates that in-person instruction can be carried out safely as long as mask-wearing and social distancing are maintained. (Rabin, 1/26)

Vaccinating teachers has been widely hailed as a vital step toward reopening the nation’s still-closed schools and, in many places, educators have been moved toward the front of the line for shots. But it has not gone hand-in-hand with efforts to return students to classrooms. And adding to the confusion, some officials are explicitly refusing to link vaccination and reopening. (Natanson, St. George and Stein, 1/26)

The city of Chicago canceled an unspecified number of vaccine appointments made by teachers who inadvertently signed up using a code meant for health care workers, sparking confusion as educators face mounting anxiety over trying to secure an inoculation amid rising tensions between their union and the school district over returning to classrooms. (Buckley and Yin, 1/26)