What Parents Think about School Efforts to Limit Covid

The battle lines are drawn as parents face off across the country over Covid mitigation measures. Schools are in the crosshairs.

Almost half of parents with children aged 12 to 17 (48 percent) say their child has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor fielded September 13-22. Almost as many parents (40 percent) say they will wait and see on the vaccine, or they will have their child vaccinated only if required, or they definitely will not get their child vaccinated. 

Among parents of 5-to-11-year-olds, only 34 percent say they will get their child vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is authorized for the age group. Almost as many—32 percent—say they will wait and see. Another 31 percent say they will have their child vaccinated only if required, or they definitely will not get their child vaccinated. 

In the midst of these divisions, the nation's schools are struggling to create a safe physical environment for the education of the nation's 53 million school-aged children. It is a daunting task. Not only do parents disagree about the need for vaccinations but also about the need for masks...

Parents with children in K-12 schools

58% think all students and staff should be required to wear masks

35% think no one should be required to wear masks

4% think only unvaccinated students and staff should be required to wear masks

Among vaccinated parents, 73 percent think schools should require all students and staff to wear masks. Among unvaccinated parents, 63 percent think no one should be required to wear masks. What are the schools doing about masks? The 69 percent majority of parents say their child's school requires all students and staff to wear masks. Another 28 percent of parents say their child's school does not have any mask requirements. 

Despite the deep divisions among parents, fully 66 percent think their child's school is doing "about the right amount" to limit the spread of Covid. Twenty-one percent say their child's school is not doing enough, and 11 percent say their child's school is doing too much. 

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, KFF Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor: Vaccination Trends among Children and Covid-19 in Schools