U.S. Public School Enrollment Fell Most In Schools With Longer COVID-19 Closures

Public school student enrollment during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE) fell the most in the school districts that had the longest closures and highest reliance on remote learning. Since the start of the COVID-19 PHE in March 2020, nearly 1.3 million students left public schools entirely. After the initial school closures in March through the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, public school enrollment declined by 2.5% during the fall of the 2020- 2021 school year, representing nearly 1.2 million students.

Federal attendance data indicates that in fall 2019, 50 . . .