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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Friday that schools can reopen this fall, citing low infection rates that he said will allow students and teachers to return to classrooms safely. "It is just great news," Cuomo told reporters. "We are probably in the best situation in the country right now." When and how schools reopen will be left up to individual school districts. However, Cuomo warned that if the seven-day rolling average of tests coming back positive exceeds 9 percent in a particular region, schools in that area must close. (Hellmann, 8/7)

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Sunday he worries that putting a pause on reopening schools could lead to a “lost year of education,” while images of tightly packed hallways at a K-12 school raise new fears that overcrowding could facilitate coronavirus transmission. “I do not want a lost year. When everybody says, ‘Let’s not go back to school until it is perfectly safe, until we have a vaccine, until 100 percent of the people are vaccinated,’ I worry that could be a lost year of education,” Lamont said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” (Cammarata, 8/9)

With some Dallas-area school districts just days away from opening their doors for in-person classes, state officials are still trying to decide whether to collect data on the number of coronavirus cases at Texas public schools. The Texas Education Agency -- the governing body for the state’s primary and secondary public schools -- and the Texas Department of State Health Services both said this week that they are in discussions to decide whether to collect COVID-19 case data from schools and provide that to the public. (Smith, 8/7)

A roller rink. The YMCA. Houses of worship. All are creating makeshift classrooms this fall as school campuses remain closed around the country because of the pandemic. For working parents, it brings much-needed relief to the exhausting months since coronavirus began. But it also raises public health questions: If it’s not safe to open schools this fall, why would learning hubs be any different? (Murphy, 8/7)

As the new academic year arrives, school systems across the United States are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Roman Catholic educators have an extra challenge — trying to forestall a relentless wave of closures of their schools that has no end in sight. Already this year, financial and enrollment problems aggravated by the pandemic have forced the permanent closure of more than 140 Catholic schools nationwide, according to officials who oversee Catholic education in the country. (Crary, 8/9)

With the number of coronavirus cases climbing, and teachers unions rallying around a remote start to the school year, some Massachusetts school districts are holding out hope for a “hybrid” approach to reopening next month that would allow at least the most academically vulnerable students to return part-time to classrooms. Directed by state education officials to prioritize in-person instruction for these students — children with disabilities, those still learning English, and others disproportionately affected by the school shutdown in the spring — many districts have drafted plans that carve out classroom time for those groups, and for their youngest learners, first. (Russell, Martin and Vazques Toness, 8/9)

A Georgia high school plans to start the week with all classes shifting online after nine students and staff tested positive for the coronavirus when the school year opened last week with most students attending in-person. North Paulding High School made headlines soon after students returned to school Aug. 3 when photos posted on social media showed hallways crowded with students, and many of them not wearing masks. The school’s principal notified parents Saturday that six students and three staff members had tested positive for the virus, though it’s unknown if any were infected at school. (8/9)

A cluster of coronavirus cases has emerged at a Georgia high school that drew national attention last week after students posted pictures and videos of their peers walking without masks in tightly packed hallways, according to a letter sent to parents over the weekend. Six students and three staff members at North Paulding High School have reported testing positive for the virus, Principal Gabe Carmona wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He said the infected people were in school “for at least some time” last week. (Hawkins, 8/9)

A teen who shared a photo of a crowded hallway at her Georgia high school last week says she has been receiving threats after the image went viral. North Paulding High School sophomore Hannah Watters told CNN she and her family and friends have been receiving screenshots of group chats with threatening language against her. (Silverman, 8/10)

A new item on back-to-school to-do lists: get your flu shot. The University of California announced Friday that all students, staff and faculty will be required to get a flu shot prior to Nov. 1. Those with approved medical exemptions will not face this new requirement. The school system’s administration consulted with the UC Health leadership in an effort to combat strains on the healthcare system due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Burke, 8/8)

As they struggle to salvage some semblance of a campus experience this fall, U.S. colleges are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus — no keg parties, no long road trips and no outside guests on campus. No kidding. Administrators warn that failure to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings could bring serious consequences, including getting booted from school. (Hill, 8/9)