Where schools are back in session, and where kids are still learning virtually

About a third of school districts across the nation have resumed in-person learning, while just 1 in 10 school districts continue teaching students entirely remotely, according to a new tracker launched to measure the way local schools adapt to the coronavirus pandemic.

The data shows that school districts across the South are the most likely to have sent children back to school already, while California has the highest concentration of districts that remain remote.

But the lack of a clear national strategy for reopening schools, a yearlong problem that is only beginning to be addressed as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention roll out new recommendations for distancing, air circulation and sanitation requirements, has kept most school districts in some kind of hybrid learning environment.

The data, maintained by Return to Learn, a joint project of the American Enterprise Institute and the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, shows 54 percent of school districts still operating school in some kind of hybrid model, in which kids attend class in person some days and virtually on others.

IN PERSON

Every school district in Florida is operating in-person learning, and most never closed, under orders from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). More than 4 in 5 school districts are operating entirely in person in Georgia, Alabama and Nebraska as well.

HYBRID LEARNING

All Hawaii students remain in a hybrid learning environment, the data shows, while school districts in New England, North Carolina and Washington continue their delicate balancing acts.

But it’s not just states run by Democratic governors who maintain the half-and-half style. About 6 in 10 districts in deep-red Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Iowa, and 7 in 10 districts in Tennessee and West Virginia, are still running hybrid models.

REMOTE LEARNING

Western states are the standout among those where school remains entirely online, and California is the stark outlier. More than 40 percent of school districts there are still entirely remote, something Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is trying to change ahead of a likely recall election he will face later this year.

About a quarter of districts in Arizona and New Mexico are still entirely remote, though some of those districts are in Navajo Nation, where the coronavirus pandemic wreaked a terrible toll last year. Albuquerque schools are still entirely online too.