K-12 Schools and Public Health Partnerships: Strategies for Navigating a Crisis with Trust, Equity, and Communication

This important book addresses ways that K-12 leaders can develop and maintain partnerships with public health leaders and other community members during times of crises. Drawing on real practices of leaders and insights from public health professionals who helped bring children back into buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book offers clear guidance on how to keep students safe, healthy, and learning during inevitable public health crises that impact K-12 schools. With a focus on building trust, a commitment to equity, and an emphasis on communication, this book highlights the building blocks for successful partnerships. This is a must-have playbook for K-12 leaders on how public health and education can effectively and efficiently partner to respond, recover, and prepare for future crises.

Leah Perkinson is former Director of Strategic Learning & Impact at The Rockefeller Foundation, USA.

Lisa C. Barrios is Director of the Division of Readiness and Response Science at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA.

Rebecca Lee Smith is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine and a Health Innovation Professor at the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Rachel Roegman is Associate Professor of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.