Here Are the More Than 850 Schools That Already Have COVID Cases

Schools across the country are beginning to reopen for in-person classes, which means students and teachers are starting to get sick with COVID-19 — and it’s only August. No one knows how badly opening schools’ doors will propel the pandemic, or how many kids and teachers will be infected, hospitalized, and die. But looking at these early openers can give us a sense of what’s to come.

Districts are taking different precautions to prevent outbreaks, and some are more effective than others. Kids and teachers at some schools must wear masks at all times, but other schools either don’t require everyone to wear a mask or aren’t strict about enforcing mask rules. Some have cut class sizes, limited contact between different groups of students, and moved classes outside or to larger classrooms. And some screen students or ask their families’ to screen them for symptoms. The problem with screening, of course, is that about 40% of cases are asymptomatic, and people who are infected without symptoms can spread the disease around their school unknowingly.

Fatherly has collected information about as many COVID-19 cases linked to school reopenings as we could verify. Not all of them were caused by the schools reopening per se. In fact, cases at this early point have mostly been in teachers and students who were infected before classes started. But the school outbreaks will come, and we’ll be updating this list to catch them.

But there are many COVID-19 cases in K-12 schools and sports that we haven’t cataloged… because there have been more than 850 of them since July 15, and it’s not even September. That’s where these crowdsourced lists come in. From the National Education Association, the spreadsheets are being updated to included crowdsourced data on school’s COVID-19 cases in all 50 states, gathered by theater teacher Alisha Morris. Once updated, they will include the deaths of more than 30 school employees and students due to suspected or confirmed COVID-19, though it’s not clear how many infections was related to attending school. A map based on this data shows the distribution of cases and deaths throughout the country.

The lists aren’t perfect, but each case comes with a link to a news source verifying the information. And besides, they’re a hell of a lot better than nothing, which is exactly what the government is putting out.

Here are some of the COVID-19 cases that have impacted schools in the U.S. by state:

Florida

• School Name: Samoset Elementary
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 employee during reopening prep

Georgia

• School Name: Cherokee County School District
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 middle school student, 2 elementary school students, and 1 kindergarten teacher
• School Name: Dean Rusk Middle School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed student
• School Name: Gwinnett County Public Schools
• COVID-19 Cases: 260 teachers positive or potentially exposed
• School Name: Hasty Elementary Fine Arts Academy
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed student
• School Name: North Paulding High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 6 confirmed students and 3 staff
• School Name: Mission Road Elementary School
• COVID-19 Cases: 4 staff members during reopening prep
• School Name: Marietta City Schools
• COVID-19 Cases: 5 confirmed and 1 presumptive staff members during reopening prep
• School Name: Harlem High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed student
• School Name: Chattooga High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 2 students after reopening
• School Name: R.M. Moore Elementary School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 faculty member and the kindergarten class is in quarantine for protective measures
• School Name: Sixes Elementary School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 student after reopening
• School Name: Ball Ground ES STEM Academy
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed staff
• School Name: Creekland Middle
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed staff
• School Name: Creekview High
• COVID-19 Cases: 2 confirmed staff
• School Name: Mill Creek Middle
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed staff
• School Name: Woodstock Elementary
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed staff
• School Name: Indian Knoll Elementary
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 confirmed staff

Illinois

• School Name: Lake Zurich High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 36+ students, traced back to the school’s summer sports camps and social gatherings

Indiana

• School Name: Elwood Junior Senior High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 teacher during school reopening prep
• School Name: Greenfield Central Junior High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 student
• School Name: Brownsburg High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 student
• School Name: Avon High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 student and 1 employee
• School Name: New Palestine High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football player during season and 1 other student during classes
• School Name: Edinburgh High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 student
• School Name: Warren Central High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football player during preseason
• School Name: Indian Creek High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football coach during preseason
• School Name: Beech Grove High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 person connected to the football and boys’ basketball teams during preseason
• School Name: Fishers High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football player during preseason
• School Name: Lanesville Junior-Senior High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 4 students after reopening
• School Name: Greater Clark County Schools
• COVID-19 Cases: 2 students after reopening
• School Name: Castle High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 administrator during reopening prep

Louisiana

• School Name: Jefferson Parish School District
• COVID-19 Cases: a “handful” of teachers during reopening prep

Mississippi

• School Name: Corinth School District
• COVID-19 Cases: 5 high school students, 1 middle school student, and 1 elementary school employee

New York

• School Name: Shaker High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 employee at the school’s Extended School Year program

North Carolina

• School Name: Thales Academy in Wake Forest
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 elementary school student
• School Name: Asheville City Schools
• COVID-19 Cases: 2 middle school and 2 high school athletes during preseason

Pennsylvania

• School Name: Shippensburg Area Senior High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football player during preseason

Tennessee

• School Name: Alcoa City Schools
• COVID-19 Cases: 3 high school students, 1 middle school student, 1 elementary school student

Texas

• School Name: Mason High School
• COVID-19 Cases: 1 football coach during preseason

Virginia

• School Name: Shirley Heim Middle School
• COVID-19 Cases: An unspecified number of staff during reopening prep

This story is developing. We will update it as new information becomes available.