Georgia ranks near the bottom when it comes to a recent list of Safest States for Schools to Reopen after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study by the personal finance website WalletHub says the Peach State came in at number 40 on the list, just ahead of Florida and right after California.
Analyst Jill Gonzalez says several factors were considered in determining the list.
“We looked at 15 different metrics like the number of child COVID-19 cases, the average public school class size. and the ratio of students to school nurses.”
The study cited one particular issue facing Georgians which should also be considered.
"Georgia has one of the highest share of seniors living with school-age children at about almost 10%. These kids are coming home from school from being in-person in the classroom all day, there is a very high risk of passing that on to people who are at risk.”
Gonzalez says returning to in-person instruction is a necessary step in restoring economic strength.
“There are a lot of parents, sometimes single parents, who simply cannot work from home. They don't have the type of job where they are able to work remotely, they're also not able to go into work and that means, at least with the economy, that a lot of these jobs are not getting fulfilled, a lot of these people are not making the money to then invest in the economy.”
Vermont was deemed the safest state for reopening schools, while Mississippi came in last on the list at number 50. For more information, visit WalletHub.com.
