Table 1.
School district characteristics by student mask policy categories over four time points of September 2021, November 2021, January 2022, and March 2022.
| Total | Required | Recommended c → Required | Required → Recommended a,c | Recommended c | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 56 | 17 | 3 | 24 | 12 |
| Governor affiliation, n (%)b | |||||
| Democrat | 26 (46) | 12 (71) | 0 (0) | 13 (54) | 1 (8) |
| Republican | 30 (54) | 5 (29) | 3 (100) | 11 (46) | 11 (92) |
| Urbanicity, n (%)b | |||||
| Rural | 12 (21) | 2 (12) | 0 (0) | 2 (8) | 8 (67) |
| Non-rural | 44 (79) | 15 (88) | 3 (100) | 22 (92) | 4 (33) |
| Students from minoritized race/ethnic group %, median (25, 75th percentile) | 58.5 (26.2, 86.0) | 83.4 (44.8, 88.7) | 19.0 (15.6, 99.9) | 74.8 (36.4, 86.6) | 34.4 (17.0, 48.4) |
| Students with economic disadvantage %, median (25, 75th percentile) | 64.8 (21.4, 82.0) | 71.1 (30.2, 85.6) | 17.6 (9.2, 95.3) | 65.5 (37.4, 81.7) | 46.9 (21.4, 73.5) |
| Relative county-level COVID-19 burden in September 2021, n (%)b | |||||
| Low | 19 (34) | 9 (53) | 2 (67) | 6 (25) | 2 (17) |
| Medium | 19 (34) | 5 (29) | 1 (33) | 11 (46) | 2 (17) |
| High | 18 (32) | 3 (18) | 0 (0) | 7 (29) | 8 (66) |
a
One district (Omaha Public Schools district, NE) changed twice (recommended → required → recommended). They were assigned to the required → recommended category.
b
Statistically significant differences between mask policy groups at p < 0.05 level.
c
Recommended or optional masking.