Domenech told POLITICO superintendents are expressing “incredible frustration" with the federal guidance.

“And we need clarification in a hurry because these numbers [of cases] are getting higher by the day,” he said.

Asked why the agency canceled the briefing with AASA, the CDC said it is reviewing the White House statements.

CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund wrote in a statement, “To avoid any confusion, CDC felt it best to fully adapt to the new guidance from White House before doing a briefing with school superintendents. We are working to see if we can do a call in the future.”

The White House advised Americans to follow state and local authorities' directions, said White House spokesperson Judd Deere in a statement.

"These officials are the same ones best positioned to make on-the-ground decisions around school closures and keeping students safe," he wrote. "The President’s guidelines also advised to avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people and to work or engage in schooling from home whenever possible."

Shortly before the CDC briefing was to begin, AASA informed the registrants in a tweet that the briefing was canceled. “We received the following message from the CDC: ‘We are extremely sorry, but we have had to cancel this conference call today. We will try to reschedule as soon as possible,’” the group wrote.

We regret to inform you that the @CDCgov webinar regarding New Guidance on School Closures is cancelled. We received the following message from the CDC: "We are extremely sorry, but we have had to cancel this conference call today. We will try to reschedule as soon as possible." pic.twitter.com/n0pxqNM5UA — AASA (@AASAHQ) March 17, 2020

The CDC’s interim guidance for K-12 administrators, updated on Thursday, suggests officials consider a short-term closure of a school if an infected person was in the building and extended school dismissals when there is substantial community transmission. Absent community transmissions, schools should “plan and prepare.”

The CDC also noted in the updated guidance Thursday that early, short-to-medium closures don’t impact the spread of the virus. Longer closures may have an impact further into community spread, but hand washing and home isolation have had more impact.

“On one hand, they're saying that schools should close and then they're saying that school closures in other countries have not resulted in ... the mitigation of cases,” Domenech said. “So what does that mean?” Does that mean that our schools should not close? And if schools should not close, what happens when there are cases?

“There's just a lack of guidance and clarity in what we're getting,” he said.

