One of his first acts as a newly sworn-in secretary will be to join first lady Jill Biden in a trip to Meriden, Connecticut, and Waterford, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday to visit two public schools that have recently reopened for in-person learning.
In his op-ed, Cardona emphasized the need for different stakeholders to come together to voice thoughts and concerns about reopening, and what is and isn’t working for their schools.
He said that he is planning to “convene the experts” in a national summit in March to get “critical feedback we need to make reopening as seamless as possible,” as well as hear what students need on an academic, social and emotional level.
While he did not specify when exactly the summit will take place and in what format, he said parents, students, school leadership and community organizations will be included.
The Department of Education will work to share best practices and create a “best practices clearinghouse” in order to make solutions that are working well for some schools accessible to all, Cardona said.
The revised CDC guidance doesn’t list vaccination as a key strategy, but says that it does help provide “an additional layer of protection,” she said.
Teachers will not be required to be vaccinated before returning to in-person teaching.
CNN’s Katie Lobosco contributed to this report.
