Following is a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) test-to-stay data released today.

“One truth that the pandemic has underscored is that our students’ social and emotional growth and their academic development are best nurtured in-person in their classrooms with their peers and teachers. It’s encouraging that test-to-stay strategies are proving effective both in limiting transmission of the virus and in ensuring that students can remain learning in school, so that entire classrooms or schools do not have to shut down when a case of COVID-19 is discovered in the school community,” said Secretary Cardona. “All students should be able to access their classrooms five days a week, and strategies from CDC and funding from the American Rescue Plan will help ensure that’s possible. Especially at a time when evidence continues to show the impacts of the pandemic on students’ learning, schools across the country must do everything possible to keep students safe and ensure that they are able to access high-quality, in-person instruction safely in their schools. This work is urgent and necessary so that we can mitigate the effects of unfinished instruction and ensure that our students are set up to succeed.”