New York state official and parents now are able to check COVID-19 case numbers within the geographic boundaries of school districts thanks to an online tool created by the ILR School. The NYS School District COVID-19 Tracker is an interactive, web-based mapping application that combines multiple sources of data on COVID-19, demographics and related topics by school district. The tracker allows users to display current estimates of active and cumulative COVID-19 cases per 1,000 residents living within a school district, along with socioeconomic and demographic variables. The developer, Russell Weaver, created the tool to be used by families, community groups, researchers, and government officials to help assess COVID-19 patterns. “Schooling during a pandemic means that, every day, parents, employees and public officials are facing incredibly difficult decisions about how best to fulfill the educational needs of our children while protecting the health and safety of our communities,” Weaver said. “Recognizing the impossible scale of that challenge, our team is trying to do our part by centralizing relevant information from a variety of sources into one location.” Weaver also created an introductory tutorial to help people less experienced in data mapping use the tool.

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Original article written by Mary Catt for the Cornell Chronicle