Publication record
- Original publication period
- July–December 2021
- Digitized / uploaded online
- August 10, 2026
The digitization/upload date records when this file was added to the website; it is not the article's original publication date.
Abstract
School reopening is not a single decision made before learners return; it is a sequence of readiness judgments that must remain valid while conditions change. This conceptual review organizes guidance available through 2021 into five gates: governance and authority, site and movement controls, continuity of teaching, protection and support of people, and surveillance with correction. A school passes a gate only when responsibilities, minimum resources, operating routines, exception routes, and evidence of practice are visible. The framework distinguishes written compliance from operational readiness and rejects the assumption that one checklist score can represent every school. It also treats remote-learning continuity, disability access, staff workload, household communication, and rapid response to symptoms as integral to reopening rather than secondary concerns. Tabletop exercises and small pilots are proposed as stronger evidence than policy documents alone. This article does not certify any school or predict transmission. Its contribution is a gate-based method for determining what can proceed, what requires mitigation, and what conditions should pause or modify face-to-face activity.