Indiana will start tracking COVID-19 cases in schools

Close up of a student writing in a graphing notebook.
Indiana schools will be asked to submit numbers daily on new positive cases among students, teachers, and staff. (Pixabay/Pexels)

Indiana will start matching COVID-19 tests to student records to notify schools of positive cases and create a public dashboard tracking the spread of the coronavirus in schools, the state’s top health official announced Wednesday.

The state aims to launch the public dashboard next month. Schools will be asked to submit numbers daily on new positive cases among students, teachers, and staff, said Dr. Kristina Box, the state’s health commissioner.

The move to publicize COVID-19 cases in schools comes as many students across the state have returned to classrooms this month. In Greenfield, the district saw a positive case on the first day back. In some instances, positive cases have forced schools to ask more than 100 close contacts to isolate or even temporarily close buildings.

“I cannot say this enough: The actions you take outside of school are just as important as those that you take inside the school building,” Box said.

She urged students and teachers to wear masks, cooperate with contact tracing, and finish the full period of quarantining before returning to school.

The Latest

Gayathri Ramkumar is one of 22 semifinalists for Colorado’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award.

The candidates include three who ran for the board last year.

After-school providers are relieved to get some $1.3 billion in overdue funds, but they’ve already experienced enormous disruptions.

Mary Filardo, executive director of 21st Century School Fund and a parent activist, says Philly officials should be honest, share data, and acknowledge they can’t ‘accidentally’ fix big problems.

It’s challenging to sell my students on the merits of democracy when the instruments of government are being used to attack their communities.

El Departamento de Justicia de Biden encontró problemas pendientes en el programa de aprendizaje de inglés de Newark, pero bajo Trump, la supervisión federal se detuvo sin decir si se resolvieron.