Where is it least safe to reopen schools? Most states are in the South, rankings show

Tanasia Kenney
·3 min read

When it comes to safely reopening schools during the COVID-19 crisis, Southern states rank among the worst, according to a new WalletHub report.

The rankings, released Monday, show which U.S. states are safest to welcome students back into the classroom and 8 of the bottom 15 are in the South.

The rankings are as follows:

  • North Carolina — No. 27

  • Texas — No. 35

  • Alabama — No. 36

  • Georgia — No. 40

  • Florida — No. 41

  • Louisiana — No. 42

  • Tennessee — No. 45

  • South Carolina — No. 49

  • Mississippi — No. 50

Mississippi was ranked the worst in the nation for reopening schools, according to the report. South Carolina came in at No. 49 just ahead of Arkansas — with Arizona and Nevada not far behind.

The fall semester is already in full swing for students across the country. However, school looks a lot different with students doing in-person learning, online-only instruction or a mix of the two.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that a lack of in-person learning over an extended period of time can cause some students (particularly those who are low income or have disabilities) to fall behind and impacts their social and emotional well-being.

“The best available evidence from countries that have opened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children, at least in areas with low community transmission, and suggests that children are unlikely to be major drivers of the spread of the virus,” the agency wrote in July. “Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America’s greatest assets—our children—while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families.”

However, others have been reluctant to bring students back into the classroom until local COVID-19 numbers are under control.

Other states that were among the least safe for reopening schools included Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Utah, Missouri and Tennessee, according to WalletHub’s rankings. Other states of interest include: Washington (18), North Carolina (27), Idaho (33), Texas (35) and California (39).

Source: WalletHub

Vermont took the top spot on the personal finance website’s list, earning high scores for its low risk of COVID-19 infections and health care infrastructure, the report shows. Maine ranked second safest for schools reopening in the nation, followed by Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

To come up with its list, WalletHub compared all 50 states against 15 key metrics including the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 children, the average public school class size and the ratio of students to school nurses.

Some states also fared better than others when it came to overall risk of coronavirus infection and health and financial infrastructure.

Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina were among states with the most COVID-19 cases among children, according to WalletHub. However, Louisiana and Mississippi also ranked among states with the lowest overall likelihood of COVID-19 infection, along with Florida, Arizona and New Jersey.

Other key findings from the report include:

  • Vermont had the lowest share of school-age children living in crowded housing at 5%.

  • North Dakota has the lowest share of seniors living with school-age children (0.91%) compared to Hawaii, which has the highest in the nation (15.12%)

  • New York has the highest spending on elementary & secondary schools per student at $24,040.