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Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday declared his support for mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for eligible schoolchildren, saying the FDA’s full approval of jabs for certain adolescents should clear the way for state officials to implement plans to begin vaccinations. “Not only do I support it, but I’m encouraging states to come up with a plan to make sure it happens,” Cardona told POLITICO between stops on a multistate tour of schools and child care facilities. “I would like governors who hold those decisions to make those decisions now that [vaccines] are FDA-approved.” (Perez Jr., 9/23)

Cardona pointed to the effectiveness of the measles vaccine — which is required for children in childcare or public schools in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. — in protecting against infections as reason why the coronavirus vaccine should be mandatory for schoolchildren. “There’s a reason why we’re not talking about measles today,” Cardona added. “It was a required vaccination, and we put it behind us. So I do believe at this point we need to be moving forward.” (Schnell, 9/23)

A Florida school district has received cash from President Joe Biden’s administration to make up for state pay cuts imposed over a board’s vote for a student anti-coronavirus mask mandate. Alachua County school Superintendent Carlee Simon said in a news release Thursday the district has received $148,000 through a U.S. Department of Education program. (9/23)

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday repaid several Florida school board members who saw their salary slashed by the DeSantis administration for requiring students to wear masks this fall. In total, the Biden administration sent school officials in Alachua County $147,719 to make up for fines from the Florida Department of Education, marking the first awards granted by the feds in the fight against Republican-led states and their Covid-19 policies. Alachua is one of 11 school districts in Florida to mandate masks for students in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wants parents to have the ultimate say on face coverings in schools. (Atterbury, 9/23)

Indiana State University will require that all students and staff show proof of vaccination by Jan. 1 or be tested each week for COVID-19, the school’s president said Thursday. The announcement by Deborah Curtis is a shift in policy. The university has been encouraging vaccinations this fall but has not made them mandatory. Masks are required indoors. (9/24)

Weekly COVID-19 testing of asymptomatic students and staff at three K-12 public schools in Omaha, Nebraska, roughly doubled the detection rate of symptom-based testing and exceeded that of the rest of the local county, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open. ... At that time, all district schools offered hybrid instruction, alternating cohorts for distance and in-person instruction; 50% to 60% of students chose in-person learning. Routine staff COVID-19 testing was mandatory, while it was optional for students. (Van Beusekom, 9/23)

On a recent day at West Towson Elementary School, there was one student with COVID symptoms waiting to be tested. Two more students were coming from the gym with shortness of breath and needed their asthma inhalers. A diabetic child had dropping blood sugar. “Those were just the urgent needs at that moment,” said Lisa Vanderwal, the school’s veteran nurse who says the coronavirus pandemic is causing her to make unprecedented choices about who gets priority among the hundreds of students in her care. “I’ve had days where I don’t know if I can keep doing it.” (Cohn, 9/24)

KHN: Mounting Covid Deaths Fuel School Bus Drivers’ Fears 

Natalia D’Angelo got sick right after school started in August. She was driving a school bus for special education students in Griffin-Spalding County School System about 40 miles south of Atlanta and contracted covid-19. One of her three sons, Julian Rodriguez-D’Angelo, said his mother, who was not vaccinated against the covid virus, had a history of health problems, including Graves’ disease and cancer. (Miller and Galewitz, 9/24)