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Minnesota health officials recommended Wednesday that schoolchildren and their families get tested for COVID-19 every two weeks as more students return to classrooms. "This is not a requirement," said Dan Huff, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Health. "COVID-19 testing remains an important tool for limiting disease impacts and ending the pandemic as quickly as possible." (Howatt, 2/25)

Tens of thousands of New York City middle school students will return to their school buildings on Thursday for the first time since city schools were closed in November amid a surge in coronavirus infections. Classroom doors are opening for the 62,000 students in grades 6 through 8 whose parents chose a mix of in-person and remote learning for their children. There are about 196,000 students in those grades in the city’s public schools. (2/25)

Chicago Public Schools plans to require its teachers and other workers to show proof that they’ve received COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment. But the Chicago Teachers Union said it expects to have a say in such a plan and lamented the lack of an opportunity for union input before the Board of Education unanimously approved the interim policy on Wednesday. (Yin, 2/24)

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) will announce on Thursday the beginning of a new coronavirus vaccination tier that will include teachers, a spokesperson said. “Throughout vaccine distribution, the governor has prioritized protecting the most vulnerable and returning Georgians to normal,” Mallory Blount said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. “Further details will be announced tomorrow.” (Budryk, 2/24)

A majority of adults, 59 percent, support waiting to reopen K-12 schools until all teachers who want a coronavirus vaccine have received a dose, according to a report from the Pew Research Center released on Wednesday. Forty percent of respondents to Pew's surveyed questions were in favor of reopening as soon as possible regardless of whether or not teachers who want the vaccine have received it. (Choi, 2/24)

Child health care experts say that a return to full-time in-person learning, which Governor Charlie Baker moved to mandate this week, will help alleviate some of the pressures placed on children’s mental health over the past year but will not be a silver bullet. In pushing the state Board of Education to force elementary and middle schools to reopen, Baker cited one of the more troubling outcomes of the pandemic on kids — the dramatic increase in mental health problems among students. Nationwide, the average share of emergency room visits related to mental health among children rose 44 percent from mid-March through October last year, compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Martin, 2/24)

Surveys and statistics show that for young people who are anxious by nature, or feeling emotionally fragile already, the pandemic and its isolation have pushed them to the brink. Rates of suicidal thinking and behavior are up by 25 percent or more from similar periods in 2019, according to a just-published analysis of surveys of young patients coming into the emergency room. (Carey, 2/23)

Around the country, high school athletes said they’ve experienced depression and anxiety since sports in their states were canceled — losing the structure, identity and stress relief they’ve relied on much of their lives. In response, high schools have taken extra measures to provide resources and combat the stigma. Many young athletes are now discussing their mental health for the first time. (Melnick, 2/24)