There’s a clear, scientific path to safely reopening schools. The real barrier now is politics.

• Studies suggest that schools can safely resume in-person learning if they rely on masks and social distancing.
• But a few big political obstacles have made this difficult. 
• Some school districts don’t enforce mask policies, while others lack the funding to ensure a safe environment for teachers and staff.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

By now, research clearly supports the idea that schools can safely resume in-person learning in the US. 

A January study of 11 school districts in North Carolina identified just 32 coronavirus infections in schools over nine weeks. Similarly, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected minimal transmission among K-12 schools in Wood County, Wisconsin. 

In an opinion article last month, CDC researchers even called for schools to reopen, with a few ground rules: Masks should be worn at all times. Social distancing should be upheld. And indoor sports practices and competitions should be limited. 

But a few political obstacles stand in the way.

For one, many US school districts lack the funding to improve their buildings’ ventilation systems, routinely test teachers and staff, or reduce classroom sizes so students remain six feet apart – measures that would make parents and teachers more comfortable with in-person learning.

The CDC's threshold for resuming full in-person instruction is also tough for most counties to meet right now, since it requires low levels of community transmission. That means that in some states, reopenings have been delayed even though they might be relatively safe for students and teachers. 

Then there's the lingering issue of mask resistance. In states like Georgia or Iowa, classrooms are already open, but many school districts haven't enforced strict mask policies. That leaves students and teachers at higher risk of infection, which could potentially force schools to close again.

"We've had a lot of issues with reopening based on science," Kavita Patel, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Insider. "I'd love to see a world where there is a little bit more of a practical engagement of the states and mayors with the scientists."

Polarization around school mask policies

Stances on school reopenings have increasingly fallen into two polarized camps, according to Daniel Benjamin, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Duke University: There's either a general neglect for safety measures, or too much risk aversion.

At one end of the spectrum, Benjamin told Insider, "you have schools that are paralyzed by fear. They just don't have the political will to open, despite the fact that if you do mitigation strategies, it's safer for kids and adults to be in school than to be in the community."

Then there's the group at the other end.

"They don't believe in masking," Benjamin said. "They don't have the backup of the [school] board. They don't have the backup of the superintendent. The parents tell the kids don't wear a mask in school. Masking is not enforced in the schools. And that's dangerous. That's not a good plan."

A November ProPublica analysis found that 11 states were not requiring students to wear masks, even when gathered indoors or at sporting events. 

Benjamin suggested that instead, schools should use face coverings as an incentive for in-person learning.

"It's super simple: If you don't want to mask, we have an alternative for you. You can learn remotely," he said. "Schools that are closed right now can really leverage that as a part of reopening."

A lack of funding for safety measures 

President Joe Biden has set a goal of reopening the majority of K-8 public schools in his first 100 days in office - roughly by the end of April.

His proposed coronavirus relief plan would allocate $130 billion to help primary schools reopen with the appropriate safety precautions. Congress will likely vote on the final legislation in mid-March. If the funding is approved, schools could use it to improve ventilation, reduce class sizes, hire more janitors, distribute personal protective equipment, or modify classroom layouts for social distancing.

Many schools are waiting on this funding before reopening to avoid putting teachers or other staff at risk. Teachers' unions across the country are also pushing for safety assurances before in-person learning resumes - that  classrooms are well-ventilated, community transmission is low, or vaccines are more widely available to school staff.

Earlier this month, Philadelphia teachers held virtual classes outdoors in frigid weather to protest the city's school reopening plan, which included using windows and fans, rather than mechanical ventilation, to circulate air.

Chicago teachers also refused to report to classrooms unless the city met their safety demands - such as more frequent cleaning of classrooms and permission for teachers with high-risk family members to continue working remotely. And in Montclair, New Jersey, the local teachers union called for all educators to be vaccinated before resuming in-person learning.

The longer schools wait to establish and implement their safety plans, the higher the costs to students.

A lack of access to school meals has put millions of households at increased risk of food insecurity, according to an October report. An analysis from McKinsey & Company suggests that American students, on average, are likely to lose five to nine months' worth of learning by June due to the pandemic. Already this fall, a report found that student achievement in math in grades 3-8 was 5 to 10 percentile points lower than before the pandemic. 

"This is all expected and known when you have kids out of school for an entire year - millions of kids - that there would be devastating consequences," Joseph Allen, director of Harvard's Healthy Buildings Program, told NPR last week. "Our country has not treated it like the emergency it is."

The CDC's strict reopening guidelines

The CDC's guidelines about when it's safe for kids to return to school pose an added challenge for districts looking to reopen.

The agency recommends that counties either see fewer than 50 weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people or have test-positivity rates below 8% before fully reopening K-12 schools - thresholds that are often hard to meet. Even though cases are declining across the US, around 14 states still have test positivity rates above 8%, and 35 states are seeing at least 105 weekly cases per 100,000 people, on average, according to data from the New York Times.

"Wake up call to parents - if schools start following this new guidance strictly, kids are not getting back to full-time school," Allen told NPR.

Many states have not prioritized restrictions that could lower cases, thereby giving schools a better chance of meeting the CDC guidelines. Restaurants and bars, venues known to easily facilitate coronavirus transmission, are open in most of the country while many schools remain closed. Infectious-disease experts say that doesn't make sense.

"As we look at the school setting itself, it's somewhere that you can have some control over whether kids are wearing masks and whether kids are physically distanced," Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at University of Florida, told Insider. "It's probably more of those outside [of school] activities that could contribute to transmission."

The CDC's own instructions say that "K-12 schools should be the last settings to close after all other mitigation measures in the community have been employed, and the first to reopen when they can do so safely."

Some states, however, have reopened schools without following that guidance or meeting the CDC case thresholds. Effective last week, Iowa's K-12 schools are required to offer in-person learning for all students who want to return to the classroom, even though the state has a test-positivity rate of around 13%. Arkansas, Florida, and Texas have also ordered schools to allow students back inside.

Andrew Dunn contributed reporting.