Back to School With No Idea What to Expect

The officials in charge of running the nation’s public schools had all summer—and $122 billion in Covid relief funds from Congress—to plan for the first day of school, so naturally chaos has ensued as students begin heading back to the classroom.

San Francisco, Miami and Dallas haven’t decided on a quarantine policy or what infection-rate threshold will trigger school closures. In New York City, home to the nation’s largest school system, principals are wondering how every student can return to in-person learning full-time while still adhering to social-distancing requirements. Mayor Bill de...