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The National Education Association endorsed Covid-19 vaccine requirements for school workers on Thursday, aligning itself with the Biden administration's push to get more Americans inoculated as the disease sends children to the hospital. Teachers and other educators should have the option to submit to regular virus testing, NEA president Becky Pringle said, but she added her 3 million members should embrace vaccination, particularly as children return to classrooms for the new school year. (Perez Jr., 8/12)

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration backed down from its threat to withhold school officials’ salaries if they resist his anti-mask rule, saying instead that the defiant officials should be responsible for the “consequences of their decisions.” The move by the governor’s office represents a tacit acknowledgement that it legally can’t take away the salaries of school board members and others despite previously threatening to. DeSantis could levy hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines against school districts for disobeying his mask orders, but it would be up for the board leaders themselves to cut their own pay. (Atterbury, 8/12)

Students, teachers and staff at public and private K-12 schools must wear a mask while indoors under a new public health order Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration issued Thursday. The move came after a handful of school districts in recent days decided to buck the governor’s interpretation of a state law and opt not to require face coverings, against the current recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tension over the politically divisive issue has exploded at one school board meeting after other in the past week. (Rankin, 8/13)

The debate over mask and vaccine mandates in schools is fueling lawsuits, rapidly shifting policies and even sidewalk feuds between parents – leaving a wake of chaos and confusion as students return to classrooms amid a surge in coronavirus cases fueled by the more transmissible delta variant. Education groups in Arizona on Thursday evening sued the state over a ban on mask mandates in schools that the state legislature had passed as part of a budget. The lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Maricopa County said the legislation was unconstitutional, alleging that it contained “substantive policy provisions that have nothing to do with the budget.” (Pietsch, 8/13)

In Houston, County Judge Lina Hidalgo required masks in schools and daycares while County Attorney Christian Menefee sued Abbott in state district court, arguing the governor exceeded his authority in prohibiting local officials on July 29 from implementing pandemic restrictions of their own. Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George issued a mask mandate for anyone inside county buildings, though he stopped short of requiring them in schools. (Despart, 8/13)

Hours after the Salt Lake County Council met to repeal its own health department’s mask order for elementary schools, parents, teachers unions, physicians and nurses gathered to share their disappointment. “There’s a lot of anticipation, a lot of anxiety among faculty and support staff in our schools of what to expect,” Brad Asay, president of the Utah chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said at a news conference outside the County Government Center. “And now, a tool has been taken away from them to be able to protect our students.” (Larsen, 8/13)

More than 80 students were potentially exposed to Covid-19 on the first day of class in Reno, Nevada, on Monday after a parent sent their child to Marce Herz Middle School, despite both the parent and child receiving a positive Covid-19 test just two days earlier, Washoe County Health District officials said. The exposed students had to quarantine at home and started distance learning on Tuesday, the Washoe County School District said. (Boyette, 8/12)

More than 400 students in Palm Beach County, Fla., were required to quarantine just two days after schools began instruction due to an outbreak of the coronavirus, according to local officials. Palm Beach County School Superintendent Michael Burke said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday that since school began, 51 students and staff had tested positive for COVID-19, WPTV-TV reported. In total, 440 students have had to isolate. (Vakil, 8/12)

Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Thursday said he is directing $30 million to expand COVID-19 testing in K-12 schools. The Republican governor made the announcement at Nampa High School in southwestern Idaho as coronavirus cases spike because of the delta variant just as students prepare to return to class next week. The $30 million is coming from emergency funds set aside by the Legislature to deal with unforeseen events, Little said. “It’s critical now,” he said. “These school districts have got to have some resources.” (Ridler, 8/13)