We knew that this would be a very, very tough year. We knew back in March when we had to close our schools instantly and go to all remote, and we knew in the months leading up to the opening of schools that this would be extremely difficult to do something that few school systems in America have even attempted to reopen in a safe, healthy manner, in a way that really would give kids both the advantage of in-person education and the health and safety they need and all the adults in the building need. Well, right now we have evidence, and it’s overwhelming and it’s outstanding evidence, that through the amazing work of our colleagues at the Department Education, and all the folks in our school buildings and our school communities, our schools are safe. It has been proven over and over again. The latest information we have from our random testing program and hundreds and hundreds of schools, is the positivity rate based on that testing program is 0.15 percent. Here’s a crucial number, and this number is one that I think needs to be understood as a work in progress. So far, we’ve had 280,000 kids who have attended school in person. Now there’s a lot more who could, and we want to address that situation. That 280,000 of course, that’s a huge number unto itself. And many, many more kids than attending in person than many parts of the country. But a lot more kids could be attending in person, and we want to make sure that their families know. And they know that school is safe.
