Utah’s legislature suspended school testing requirements this month after high Covid rates strained the state’s system. Omicron’s quick spread left Vermont officials abandoning their onetime school test-and-trace program, while Massachusetts officials strongly encouraged schools to give up a diagnostics program endorsed by federal officials.

The approaches conflict with White House plans. President Joe Biden’s administration is promoting school “Test To Stay” programs to keep exposed students inside classrooms, and the federal government said it would begin delivering millions of rapid tests to schools this month.

But the Omicron variant has challenged schools to keep pace. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling states to narrow requests for rapid tests under the White House initiative, all while some authorities simply begin to rethink school testing and contact tracing.