COVID -19: Look how American schools plan for a September restart

Here’s a look at how the states have handled the return to the classroom. Superintendent Dr. Keith Perrigan shows the new seating configuration on the school buses for the upcoming school year, in Bristol, Va. A maximun of 22 students can be on the bus. President Donald Trump demanded that schools reopen physically in the fall, pressing his drive to get the country moving again even as the coronavirus pandemic surged through much of the United States and threatened to overwhelm some health care facilities.

Josefina Median wears a mask as she cleans a classroom at Wylie High School Tuesday, Wylie, Texas. Earlier this year, the spread of the novel coronavirus forced more than 1.5 billion students into hastily implemented experiments in learning from home as schools around the world shut their doors.

Wearing masks amid the concern of COVID-19, Richardson Independent School District workers Rogelio Ponciano, right, and Matt Attaway install a plexiglass barrier on the sink in the restroom for students at Bukhair Elementary School in Dallas.

Fairfax County Public Schools assistant director of facilities management Todd Jones stands in a classroom where desks have been spaced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Mantua Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.

Administrative assistant Marie Delvalle sits behind a glass panel installed in the main office to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Mantua Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.

Tommy Croft and Eddie Ford install plexiglass dividers on desks in a classroom at Oakland Heights Elementary School in Meridian, Miss. on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The dividers are part of a district-wide effort to protect students after schools were closed in March as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

Des Moines Public Schools custodian Joel Cruz cleans a desk in a classroom at Brubaker Elementary School, in Des Moines, Iowa. School districts that plan to reopen classrooms in the fall are wrestling with whether to require teachers and students to wear face masks.

Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, teachers check students before a summer STEM camp at Wylie High School in Wylie, Texas. Not knowing if children are infected makes it difficult for schools to reopen safely, many experts say.

Social distancing dividers for students are seen in a classroom at St. Benedict School, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Montebello, near Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Des Moines Public Schools custodian Tracy Harris cleans a chair in a classroom at Brubaker Elementary School, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. In Iowa, among other places, where Democratic-leaning cities like Des Moines and Iowa City have required masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while smaller, more conservative communities have left the decision to parents.