Associations of Racial and Ethnic Composition of School Districts with Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Reduced In-Person Learning Among Schoolchildren During the Pandemic in the United States

IntroductionThe White House has called for an "all-hands-on-deck" response to address chronic absenteeism and disrupted learning among K-12 students that spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic due to school closures and shifts to remote learning in the United States. Such learning disruptions are linked to test score declines with lifelong implications for earnings and well-being. This study aimed to identify higher-risk student populations that might benefit from interventions to reduce such disruptions and related inequities by estimating the linkages between the racial and ethnic composition of U.S. K-12 school districts as predictors of average wildfire smoke levels and year-over-year declines in in-person student visits to schools during the pandemic. MethodsUsing multivariable logistic regression, 5-year (2012-2016) mean percentages of non-White students grouped into quartiles were investigated as predictors of school district-level outcomes consisting of: 1) 5-year (2012-2016) mean levels of wildfire smoke fine particulate matter 2.5 m or smaller in diameter (PM2.5) above 35 g/m3 (EPA health-based standard) during school days for grade 3-8 students from August 15 to June 15 of the following year; and 2) being above the median for the mean decline in in-person student attendance (vs. the same month in 2019), from September 2020 to May 2021 and September 2021 to May 2022. ResultsAcross 11,190 (82.4% of all) U.S. school districts, the highest (vs. lowest) quartile for the percentage of non-White students predicted a nearly 3-fold higher odds (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=2.82; 95% CI=2.14-3.72; P<.001) for high wildfire smoke exposure and a 9-fold higher odds (AOR=9.12; 95% CI=7.15-11.63; P<.001) for substantially reduced in-person learning levels. Successively higher odds were observed in higher quartiles (P for trend <.001). Similar patterns were seen when high (vs. low) percentages of Asian-, Black-, and Hispanic-American students were modeled simultaneously. ConclusionsU.S. school districts with higher percentages of non-White students showed a convergence of elevated odds of wildfire smoke exposure and distance learning consistent with dose-response relationships. These concomitant risks could be mitigated by school-based air filtration interventions that reduce wildfire smoke PM2.5 and transmission of airborne particulates carrying the coronavirus. One potential cost-effective intervention to address these joint risks would be the placement of Corsi-Rosenthal boxes (DIY inexpensive portable air filtration devices shown to effectively reduce PM2.5 concentrations) in school classrooms and other school indoor areas. Supplying Corsi-Rosenthal boxes to school districts could markedly reduce learning disruptions and wildfire smoke and COVID-19 health impacts and their related inequities at a cost of less than $1 billion annually, 0.5% of the $190 billion in federal relief available to school districts to address pandemic-related needs including learning loss.