GREENSBORO, N.C. — Before we know it, summer vacation will be over. It's hard to believe but the new school year starts in just a month and a half.
Plans are still in the works as to how districts will bring students back, in-person full time.
A group of doctors in our state said schools handled well it earlier this year - and can do it again.
Those scientists and doctors from the ABC Science Collaborative looked at data from 100 school districts, including Guilford County Schools, and found that full time, in-person instruction works if one safety precaution, in particular, is taken seriously.
"We think masking was absolutely essential," Dr. Ibukun Kalu said.
Kalu is a member of the ABC Science Collaborative and specializes in Infectious Disease in children at Duke Health.
She said COVID-19 spread in North Carolina Schools was low with masking in place.
The Collaborative's report found even when social distancing in classrooms or on the bus decreased, spread stayed low as long as masks were used.
"As a whole, North Carolina has done a great job with in-person education in terms of reducing COVID spread," Kalu said.
Much of their report's data comes from before students over the age of 12 could be vaccinated. Their statistics were also being gathered as many adults were still waiting for their shots.
Kalu said vaccinations combined with masking and testing could help districts make decisions about the new school year.
"We can potentially have more kids in person in school and not have to toss out a bunch of kids or have them excluded from school for quarantine," Kalu said.
Kalu said more than 40,000 students had to quarantine due to exposures during the last school year. Data showed less than 1 in 3,000 students got COVID at school.
The state's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Catherine Truitt, responded to the study saying that with vaccination rates increasing, she hopes to see mask requirements removed for K-12 students in the fall.
Ultimately she said that decision should be up to local school boards to decide.