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Background: For pandemic preparedness, researchers used online systematic searches to track unplanned school closures (USCs). We determine if Twitter provides complementary data., Methods: Twitter handles of Michigan public schools and school districts were identified. All tweets associated with these handles were downloaded. USC-related tweets were identified using 5 keywords. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were performed in R., Results: Among 3469 Michigan public schools, 2003 maintained their own active Twitter accounts or belonged to school districts with active Twitter accounts. Of these 2003 schools, in 2015-2016 school year, at least 1 USC announcement was identified for 349 schools via the current method only, 678 schools via Twitter only, and 562 schools via both methods. No USC announcements were identified for 414 schools. Rural schools were less likely than city schools to have active Twitter coverage (adjusted relative risk [adjRR] = 0.3956, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.3312-0.4671), and to announce USCs on Twitter (adjRR = 0.5692, 95% CI 0.4645-0.6823), but more likely to have USCs identified by the current method (adjRR = 1.4545, 95% CI 1.3545-1.5490)., Conclusions: Each method identified USCs that were missed by the other. Our results suggested that identifying USCs on Twitter is complementary to the current method., (© 2020, American School Health Association.)

Objective: Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on August 24, 2017, caused catastrophic damage that resulted in the closure of many schools and school districts across 4 states. We evaluated the underlying reasons and characteristics of the unplanned school closures to gain insight on how communities may cope with recommended preemptive closures as an intervention for pandemic influenza., Methods: Information was extracted from news articles, school websites, and Twitter and Facebook posts previously collected through daily systematic searches of Google, Google News, and Lexis-Nexis. This information was sorted into predefined categories describing the characteristics that may be associated with unplanned school closures that occur during a natural disaster., Results: Across Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, there were 3026 unplanned closures. Sixty-three percent of the closures occurred in Texas. The main reasons for the closures were flooding, power outages, and structural damage. The closed schools in Texas were sometimes used as shelters or as locations for providing food or other resources., Conclusion: School closures associated with Hurricane Harvey were attributed to both the effects of the hurricane and use for resource allocation. These findings can help inform preparedness planning and response for future hurricane seasons and other large-scale emergencies.