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After the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S. in March, the majority of schools went on to cancel in-person classes for the remainder of the academic year. But now that all 50 states have begun reopening, there’s increasing discussion regarding when it will be safe for schools to resume in-person classes. In late June, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that policy considerations prioritize “having students physically present in school,” and a number of school districts have announced plans to reopen in the fall.

Will it be safe for schools to reopen in the fall? And what will it look like when they do? Here’s what we know.

When will schools reopen?

This spring, 48 states suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the academic year. Now, a small but growing number of states have announced that schools can reopen for in-person summer programs, including North Dakota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Many school districts across the country have announced plans to reopen in the fall, including New Jersey and Connecticut, which outlined plans for resuming in-person classes last week. Even so, the New York Times reports that many students will probably not return to school full-time, given that schools are likely to stagger schedules and offer a hybrid of in-person and remote learning in order to limit class sizes and comply with social-distancing recommendations from the CDC.

On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while the city’s schools will reopen in September, most students will attend in person only one to three days a week and continue virtual learning the rest of the time. Under the plan, classrooms will likely have no more than 12 people present at a time, including teachers and aides. School leaders have been instructed to let parents know in August which days their children will attend school. Students will also be required to wear masks, which will be provided to them for free.

On Monday, Florida’s Department of Education issued an emergency order requiring all “brick and mortar schools” to open “at least five days per week for all students” in August. The order comes as Florida continues to see record numbers of new coronavirus cases each day. It has received pushback from teachers, who worry that the state is prioritizing economic recovery over the safety of students and staff. Texas, another epicenter of the outbreak, has also announced plans to open schools full time in the fall.

Meanwhile, in California, where new infections have surged in recent weeks, there’s debate over whether schools should reopen in the fall at all. In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom this week, the California Teachers Association wrote, “It is clear that communities and school districts have not come close to meeting the threshold for a safe return to in-person learning, even under a hybrid model.” And on Tuesday, Los Angeles’ chief public-health officer told school officials to be prepared to continue full-time distance learning in the fall.

How will schools decide when to reopen?

In mid-April, President Trump outlined a set of federal guidelines for states to begin gradually lifting social-distancing restrictions. The guidelines, which recommend that states not lift stay-at-home orders or travel restrictions until the number of coronavirus cases had declined steadily for 14 days, include three phases. In the first phase, states could begin to reopen some businesses, such as restaurants, movie theaters, sporting venues, and places of worship, provided that they limit capacity and adhere to strict social-distancing protocols. Assuming the number of new coronavirus cases continued to decline for another two weeks, states could then begin phase two, which would include reopening schools.

However, some have pointed out a seeming contradiction in the guidelines, which, in phase two, state that schools can reopen but also recommend that people avoid gatherings of more than 50 people. Many schools have hundreds of students and employees, raising questions about how they will be able to operate in accordance with social-distancing mandates.

For months, public health officials have warned that reopening too soon could lead to further outbreaks, and now, in many places, reopening efforts have coincided with surges in new coronavirus cases. In the past week, the U.S. has reported record numbers of new infections, which are currently increasing in 36 states.

Trump has repeatedly pushed for schools to reopen and in a tweet on Wednesday threatened to cut off federal funding to schools that do not reopen in the fall, though many have pointed out that his ability to actually do so is limited. He also wrote: “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS.” However, the Times notes that most of those countries reopened schools only after getting their outbreaks under control. For example, on Tuesday this week, Germany reported 279 new coronavirus cases, while Norway had 11 and Denmark had 10. In comparison, the U.S. had 54,000.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos echoed Trump’s sentiments on a call with governors Tuesday, saying that “schools must reopen, and they must be fully operational,” criticizing plans by some districts that would have students in the classroom only a few days a week.

In his eagerness to get students back in school, Trump has previously argued that the virus doesn’t pose a threat to children. However, medical experts have urged caution. Testifying in front of the Senate in May, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said that officials making decisions about school openings should not be “cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects” of COVID-19. Speaking on CNN more recently, Fauci continued to urge caution, though he also noted that keeping schools closed in the fall due to safety concerns might be “a bit of a reach.” Acknowledging that children tend to have mild cases of COVID-19, he said that he thought the approach to reopening would need to vary from place to place, depending on the local rate of infection. “I hesitate to make any broad statements about whether it is or is not quote ‘safe’ for kids to come back to school,” he said.

On June 25, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that “all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.” The AAP noted that evidence shows that children and adolescents are less likely to have severe cases of COVID-19, and that “policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families and the community by keeping children at home.”

Despite the Trump administration’s insistence that schools must reopen in the fall, it has provided no concrete proposals or new financial assistance to help them do so. The American Federation of Teachers has said that for schools to safely reopen, there needs to be better testing and tracking for the virus, and schools will need access to personal protective equipment. Acknowledging that adults who work in schools are at greater risk for infection and transmission of the virus — nearly one third of public schoolteachers are over 50 — the AAP recommends that they maintain a physical distance of six feet from other people as much as possible.

How will schools follow social-distancing guidelines?

Even once schools do resume in-person classes, things will look a lot different than what we’re used to. In May, the CDC released a set of guidelines for schools reopening, which include spacing desks six feet apart, having students eat lunch at their desks instead of the cafeteria, and closing playgrounds and other communal spaces where possible.

The CDC guidelines state that all staff members and children over age 2 should wear cloth masks throughout the school day, and emphasize the importance of daily disinfecting of high touch surfaces and limiting use of shared equipment. Additionally, they recommend screening students and staff for symptoms, and making plans for when people get sick, including short closings to allow for disinfecting.

Many of the CDC recommendations are intended to minimize the number of students and adults in close contact with each other. For example, they recommend keeping the same group of students and staff together — all day for younger students, and as much as possible for older students. They also suggest staggering school drop off times and having children sit one person per row on school buses.

On Wednesday, President Trump denounced the CDC guidelines, calling them “very tough and expensive” as well as “impractical.” A few hours later, Vice-President Pence announced that the CDC would issue new recommendations next week, saying, “We don’t want the guidance to be too tough.” However, the head of the CDC, Robert Redfield, has since clarified that the agency will not be revising its guidelines, but that they will provide “additional reference documents.” Redfield also said that the guidelines should not be interpreted as requirements, adding that “its purpose is to facilitate the reopening and keeping open the schools in this country.”

In their recent statement, the AAP also acknowledged that some of the CDC’s guidelines will be difficult, if not impossible, for schools to implement. For example, “in many school settings, 6 feet between students is not feasible without limiting the number of students.” In such cases, the AAP recommends that schools “weigh the benefits of strict adherence … with the potential downside if remote learning is the only alternative.” Massachusetts has said that schools can reopen with 3 feet of distance between children.

Additionally, public-health experts have said that even once schools do reopen, they should plan for intermittent closures in the event of further outbreaks — in which case its likely that remote learning would continue. New York governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that he will partner with Bill Gates — who has a controversial record on education reform — to “reimagine education,” particularly the role of technology.

Education officials have said that social-distancing measures will be expensive for schools to implement — and they come at the same time that many school districts are seeing their budgets cut due to the pandemic. The American Federation of Teachers has estimated that schools will need $116.5 billion for additional staff and supplies to safely reopen. Meanwhile, the National Education Association has estimated that without federal aid, the education system will lose 1.9 million jobs.

This post has been updated.