The Miscalculations of COVID School Closures

On June 26, 2020, three months after the coronavirus pandemic had seized the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents about sixty-seven thousand pediatric physicians, issued guidance on reopening schools. “The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school,” the statement read. The guidelines diverged from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for in-person learning—six feet of social distancing, for example, could shrink down to three—and the A.A.P. was frank...