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School responses in Oregon to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

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Responses by state

As students returned to school for the 2021-2022 school year, states set a variety of policies on education and the COVID-19 pandemic, including how schools should open to in-person instruction and whether students and staff would be required to wear masks. By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, about 66% of students nationwide were in states that left closure decisions to schools or districts, 33% were in states with state-ordered in-person instruction, and 1% were in states with state-ordered regional school closures.[1][2] All 50 states closed schools to in-person instruction at some point during the 2019-2020 school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This article summarizes responses to the coronavirus in Oregon schools in the academic years ending in 2020, 2021, and 2022. You will find:

Ballotpedia’s coverage of COVID-19 includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools, and more.

This page is updated monthly, but our email is always open. We encourage you to share updates from local officials, policymakers, and campaigns in your community at editor@ballotpedia.org.


Timeline by school year

Below is a list of major events involving schools in Oregon during the coronavirus pandemic between 2019 and 2022, including school closings and openings, mask requirements, and the release of statewide operating guidance. Know of something we missed? Click here to email us and let us know.

2021-2022 school year

  • March 12, 2022: Statewide school mask requirements ended in California, Washington, and Oregon. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) jointly announced the change on Feb. 28.[3]
  • February 28, 2022: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) jointly announced their statewide school mask requirements would end on March 12.[3]
  • Feb. 24, 2022: The Oregon Health Authority announced it would end the statewide school mask requirement on March 19. It had initially said the requirement would end on March 31.[4]
  • Feb. 7, 2022: The Oregon Health Authority announced it would end the statewide school mask requirement on March 31.[5]
  • Jan. 28, 2022: The Oregon Health Authority issued a school mask requirement that did not have an expiration date. The Oregon Health Authority said it could rescind the rule when it determined it was no longer needed.[6]
  • Sept. 9, 2021: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio, a school data aggregator, reported six in-person schooling disruptions in Oregon.[7][8]
  • Aug. 19, 2021: Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that all teachers and staff in K-12 schools would be required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Oct. 18 or six weeks after full FDA approval of a coronavirus vaccine.[9]
  • July 29, 2021: Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that masks would be required indoors at K-12 public schools in the state.[10]


2020-2021 school year

  • June 29, 2021: At the end of the school year, Burbio reported a majority of schools were in-person in Oregon .[11][12]
  • April 19, 2021: Oregon public schools had to open for hybrid or full-time in-person instruction for grades 6-12 by April 19. Gov. Kate Brown (D) issued the requirement on March 12.[13]
  • March 29, 2021: Oregon public elementary schools had to reopen no later than March 29 for hybrid or full-time in-person instruction. Parents could still keep their children in fully remote instruction.[14]
  • March 12, 2021: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) issued an executive order requiring public elementary schools to reopen no later than March 29 for hybrid or full-time in-person instruction. The order also required public schools to open for grades 6-12 by April 19. Parents could still keep their children in fully remote instruction.[15]
  • March 5, 2021: Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced she would issue an executive order requiring public elementary schools to reopen no later than March 29 for hybrid or full-time in-person instruction. The order was also scheduled to require public schools to open for grades 6-12 by April 19. She said parents could still keep their children in fully remote instruction.[16]
  • January 1, 2021: Oregon's school reopening metrics, which determined when schools could open, became advisory instead of mandatory.[17]
  • October 30, 2020: The Oregon Department of Education released updated school reopening guidance. Under the rules, schools in counties with less than 50 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days could resume full-time, in-person learning. Previously, the state only allowed full-time, in-person schedules in counties with 10 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents each week over a three-week rolling average.[18]
  • October 6, 2020: The Oregon Department of Education announced the state would disregard positivity rate data from September in determining whether school districts could reopen. The announcement meant school districts could reopen for in-person instruction if their counties met the state’s case count criteria until October positivity data was available.[19]
  • Sept. 10, 2020: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio reported most schools were using virtual or hybrid learning in Oregon .[20][21]
  • August 11, 2020: The Oregon Department of Education released updated school reopening guidelines that allowed schools to reopen to in-person instruction if the school had 250 students or fewer, was in a county with fewer than 30,000 residents, and if the county had reported no more than 30 COVID-19 cases in the past three weeks.[22]
  • July 28, 2020: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced the metrics that would guide school reopening decisions. Counties needed to have 10 or fewer coronavirus cases per 100,000 people and a 7-day positivity rate of 5% or less for three consecutive weeks before in-person and hybrid instruction could resume. The state also needed to have a positivity rate of 5% or less for three consecutive weeks before any in-person or hybrid instruction could resume.[23]
  • June 10, 2020: The Oregon Department of Education released guidelines for schools to reopen for the 2020-2021 school year. Under the plan, individual public and private schools would need to submit an Operational Blueprint for Reentry to their local public health authority before they reopened.[24]


2019-2020 school year

  • April 8, 2020: Brown closed schools for the remainder of the academic year. Prior to the announcement, schools were closed through April 28.[25]
  • March 17, 2020: Brown announced that the statewide school closure, scheduled to end March 31, was extended to April 28.[26]
  • March 12, 2020: Brown announced that schools across the state would close from March 16 through March 31.[15]

Mask and vaccine requirements in the 2021-2022 school year

Mask requirements in schools

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

As of August 1, 2022, no states had school mask requirements in effect. Forty-two states left mask requirements in schools up to local authorities. Seven states banned school mask requirements.

The table below shows statewide school mask requirement laws and orders in states with school mask requirements or school mask requirement bans in place at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

Mask requirement orders
State Ban or requirement? Type of order Date lifted or altered
Arizona Ban Legislative action N/A
Arkansas Ban Legislative action Sept. 30, 2021 - Suspended by court action
California Requirement California Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Connecticut Requirement Executive order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Delaware Requirement Executive order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Florida Ban Executive order N/A[27]
Georgia Ban Legislative action N/A
Hawaii Requirement Executive order Aug. 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Illinois Requirement Illinois Department of Public Health order Feb. 4, 2022 - Suspended by court action[28]
Iowa Ban Legislative action May 16, 2022 - Reinstated by court action[29]
Kentucky Requirement Kentucky Board of Education order Sept. 9, 2021 - Suspended by state law
Louisiana Requirement Executive order Feb. 16, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[30]
Maryland Requirement Maryland State Board of Education order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[31]
Massachusetts Requirement Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[32]
Nevada Requirement Executive order Feb. 10, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Jersey Requirement Executive order March 7, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Mexico Requirement New Mexico Public Education Department order Feb. 17, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New York Requirement Executive order March 3, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Oklahoma Ban Executive order N/A
Oregon Requirement Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Pennsylvania Requirement Pennsylvania Department of Health order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Rhode Island Requirement Executive order March 4, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
South Carolina Ban Legislative action Sept. 28, 2021 - Temporarily suspended by court action
Tennessee Ban Executive order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Texas Ban Executive order N/A[33]
Utah Ban Legislative action N/A
Virginia Ban Legislative action N/A
Washington Requirement Washington State Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action

School mask requirements over time

School mask bans over time


Teacher and school employee vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

Seven states had issued a statewide requirement for K-12 teachers and staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or receive regular coronavirus testing during the 2021-2022 school year. The table below shows teacher and staff vaccine requirement laws and orders in states that issued such policies during the 2021-2022 school year.

Vaccine requirement orders
State Testing instead of vaccination allowed? Type of order Date effective
California Yes California Department of Public Health order Oct. 15, 2021
Connecticut No Executive order Sept. 27, 2021
Delaware Yes Executive order Nov. 1, 2021
Illinois Yes Executive order Issued: Sept. 19, 2021
Suspended by court action on Feb. 4, 2022
New Jersey Yes Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
New York Yes Executive order Sept. 19, 2021
Oregon No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
Washington No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021


Student vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

On Oct. 1, 2021, California was the first state to announce a vaccine requirement for eligible students. Louisiana also announced a vaccine requirement for eligible students on Dec. 14, but then announced the state would be removing the coronavirus vaccine from the list of required immunizations in schools on May 18, 2022.

School reopenings and closures (2020-2021 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year

Initial school year operating plan

See also: Documenting America's Path to Recovery: July 20, 2020

Oregon released an initial operating plan for the 2020-2021 school year on June 10, 2020. An analysis of this plan appeared in our Documenting America's Path to Recovery newsletter on July 20. The sections below include an analysis of the plan, the details of the plan, and reactions from officials to the plan.

The Oregon Department of Education released school reopening guidance on June 10. The document contains recommendations for schools, which are responsible for creating individual reopening plans. Each public and private school must submit an Operational Blueprint for Reentry to their local public health authority.

On March 12, Gov. Kate Brown (D) closed public schools from March 16 through March 31. On March 17, Brown extended the closure through April 28. Brown closed schools for the remainder of the academic year on April 8.

Oregon does not have a statewide date for schools to reopen. According to EdWeek, public schools in Oregon traditionally start the academic year from late August to early September, with the exact date varying by district.

Context

Oregon is a Democratic trifecta, with a Democratic governor and Democratic majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.

The following tables show public education statistics in Oregon, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Oregon school metrics
Category Figure Rank
Per pupil spending (16-17) $13,355 24
Number of students (18-19) 573,584 29
Number of teachers (Fall 2016) 29,756 33
Number of public schools (18-19) 1,257 30
Student:teacher ratio (18-19) 20.2 5
Percent qualifying for free/reduced lunch (16-17) 50.50% 19


Oregon school revenue
Category Figure Rank
Total revenue $7,077,486,000 28
Federal revenue percent 8.0% 33
State revenue percent 52.0% 21
Local revenue percent 40.0% 26

Details

District reopening plans
Each individual school is responsible for submitting an Operational Blueprint for Reentry to their local public health authority. The health authority must approve the plan before a school can reopen. Reopening plans must be made available online by Aug. 15.

On June 10, Department of Education Director Colt Gill said, “We understand and honor the importance of local voice, leadership and control. These individual plans will reflect the distinct strengths and needs of each district and community.”

In-person, hybrid, and online learning
Each individual school will decide whether to use in-person teaching, online learning, or a hybrid model. Schools choosing to only offer online learning must explain why they are not offering in-person teaching or hybrid learning.

Mask requirements
Face coverings are required for staff who are regularly within six feet of students or staff, bus drivers, staff preparing or serving meals, front office staff, and school nurses when providing direct contact care. All adult visitors are also required to wear face coverings.

Face coverings are recommended for all staff (based on local public health and CDC guidelines) and students in 6th-12th grade.

Conditions under which children should not wear a face covering are:

  • If they have a medical condition that makes it difficult to breathe through a face covering
  • If they have a disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering
  • If they are unable to remove the face covering independently
  • If they are sleeping.

In-person health recommendations and requirements
The plan suggests that schools develop plans that incorporate the following recommendations:

  • Limiting the number of classroom transitions throughout the day
  • Create hallway procedures to promote physical distancing and limit gatherings
  • Cancel, modify, or postpone field trips, assemblies, athletic events, and other large gatherings to meet physical distancing requirements
  • Modify after school programs to meet physical distancing requirements
  • Create staggered arrival and/or dismissal schedules
  • Assign students or cohorts to specific school entrances and exits
  • Only allow one cohort to use playgrounds at a time and disinfect the area between uses
  • Stagger meal times and determine alternate locations for eating meals.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions
The plan offers the following suggestions for transportation:

  • Bus drivers are required to wear face coverings. Only students displaying symptoms are required to wear a face covering. Students with symptoms are required to stay six feet away from others but should be transported to school and isolated.
  • There must be at least three feet of physical space between passengers. When possible, there should be at least six feet between the driver and passengers.
  • Make routing adjustments and adjust bell times to account for reduced capacity due to physical distancing guidelines.

Map of school closures

The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year.

As of July 8, 2021, the status of school closures and reopenings was as follows:

  • Two states (Delaware, Hawaii) and Washington, D.C. had state-ordered regional school closures, required closures for certain grade levels, or allowed hybrid instruction only.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 410,896 students (0.81% of students nationwide)
  • Thirteen states had state-ordered in-person instruction.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 15,697,460 students (30.96% of students nationwide)
  • One state (Arizona) had state-ordered in-person instruction for certain grades.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 1,152,586 students (2.27% of students nationwide)
  • Thirty-four states left decisions to schools or districts.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 33,449,499 students (65.96% of students nationwide)



School reopenings and closures (2019-2020 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2019-2020 academic year


The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

  • States closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 48
  • Number of public school students in states closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 50,261,464


The chart below shows the first date schools in a state were closed to in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 academic year, divided by the political party of the governor.

School responses by state

To read about school responses to the coronavirus pandemic in others states, click one of the following links below:

General resources

The chart below shows coronavirus statistics from countries across the world. The information is provided by Real Clear Politics.

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Number of operating public schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio, by state or jurisdiction: School year 2019–20," accessed September 10, 2021
  2. ↑ EducationWeek, "Map: Where Were Schools Required to Be Open for the 2020-21 School Year?," June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CA228
  4. ↑ Salem Reporter, "UPDATED: Oregon to lift indoor mask mandate March 19, including in schools," February 24, 2022
  5. ↑ Oregon Health Authority, "Oregon will lift indoor mask requirements no later than March 31," February 7, 2022
  6. ↑ KGW, "Oregon extends indoor mask requirement for K-12 schools as current rules expire," January 28, 2022
  7. ↑ To read more about Burbio's school disruption tracking, click here
  8. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed August 27, 2021
  9. ↑ Oregon Office of the Governor, "Governor Kate Brown Announces Two New Vaccination Measures To Address Hospital Crisis, Help Keep Students Safe," August 19, 2021
  10. ↑ OPB, "Oregon to require masks indoors for K-12 schools," July 29, 2021
  11. ↑ Burbio rated Oregon's in-person index at 63.4. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  12. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OR419
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OR329
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 My Oregon News, "Governor Kate Brown Announces Statewide School Closure for Students in Oregon from Monday, March 16 through Tuesday, March 31," March 12, 2020
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OR35
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OR11
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OR115
  19. ↑ Oregon Public Broadcasting, "Oregon relaxes school COVID-19 standards, opens door for more in-person learning," accessed October 6, 2020
  20. ↑ Burbio rated Oregon's in-person index between 0-20. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  21. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  22. ↑ The Bulletin, "New state guidelines make it easier for smaller schools to reopen," August 11, 2020
  23. ↑ Oregon Health Authority, "Ready Schools, Safe Learners: Community COVID-19 Metrics," accessed July 30, 2020
  24. ↑ Oregon Department of Education, "Ready Schools, Safe Learners," accessed June 11, 2020
  25. ↑ Oregon Live, "Oregon schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year," April 8, 2020
  26. ↑ KDRV, "Governor Brown extends Oregon school closures through April 28," March 17, 2020
  27. ↑ On Sept. 2, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Sept. 10.
  28. ↑ Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ended the statewide school mask requirement on Feb. 28, 2022.
  29. ↑ On Sept. 13, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action for all schools. On Jan. 25, 2022, the ban was partially reinstated.
  30. ↑ Oct. 26, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they followed CDC quarantine guidance
  31. ↑ Dec. 7, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they met one of the three following criteria: 1) the county vaccination rate was 80% or higher, 2) 80% of school staff and students were vaccinated, or 3) COVID-19 transmission in the county was considered moderate or low for 14 straight days.
  32. ↑ Oct. 1 - Schools could become exempt from the school mask requirement when at least 80% of students were vaccinated
  33. ↑ On Nov. 10, 2021 the ban was suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Dec. 1.
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