COVID-19 caused the most dramatic disruption of elementary and secondary education in our lifetime. By late March 2020, every US state had closed public schools in an effort to flatten the curve. Delays in reopening schools have coincided with the emergence of sharp divisions among parents in their willingness to send their children back to school--raising the proverbial chicken-and-egg questions about whether public opinion is causing or simply responding to the delays. This report examines the emergence and persistence of racial polarization in public opinion regarding when and whether to reopen schools. Leveraging different surveys fielded throughout 2020 and into early 2021, it documents that opinions on these issues became increasingly divided along both racial and partisan lines by early May 2020. The gap persisted through the summer and as schools began reopening in the fall, coinciding with big racial differences in access to in-person learning.