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COVID Current Events as of August 17, 2020

Each week, we have been collecting news articles, publications and other items of interest related to COVID and schools to inform ERS’ own work to support school districts to manage through the uncertainty. We wanted to make this collection available to district leaders, school leaders, state education leaders and other partners working towards reimagining what school could look like during and after COVID-19.

Constraints from Social Distancing:

  • Dr. Fauci recommends that in-person instruction take place outdoors as much as possible
  • Despite plans to start the schoolyear fully online, LAUSD plans to roll out a COVID testing regimen for its 700,000 students and 75,000 employees
  • The NYT analyzed COVID cases by region and mapped their corresponding recommendations for school reopening based on safety considerations

Implications for System (JHU state and national policy tracker):

  • As learning pods become more popular, people are questioning if there are ways to provide equitable access to in-person tutoring or if public school districts themselves can provide a similar offering
  • Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky recommended that schools delay in-person instruction until 9/28
    • However, he says that he will not shut schools down that disagree with his recommendation, except in the case of a “massive outbreak”
  • In Oregon, students for whom English is a second language and those enrolled in special education programs must be prioritized for in-person instruction if their school does not experience a confirmed case in 14 days
    • In-person instruction must be available for these student groups even if county-wide metrics do not allow for all students to return to classrooms

Implications for Schools (EdWeek Reopening Tracker):

Reopening Plans

  • Boston Public Schools announced a delay in reopening to September 21st with a waiver to shorten the school year from 180 to 170 days
    • BPS continues to plan for some amount of in-person learning, with two proposed models: (1) online learning (2) hybrid learning
    • Governor Baker asserts that 90% of communities in MA are sufficiently containing the virus to open schools in-person
    • However, the Boston Teachers Union calls for a fully remote start with a phased in approach to returning to in-person instruction

Staffing/Scheduling Considerations

  • DCPS shared examples of remote schedules that feature significant asynchronous learning time, opportunities for small group instruction, 1:1 check-ins, and office hours
  • DeSoto ISD, a suburban district south of Dallas, is offering a flexible approach to remote learning using the Anytime Anywhere Learning platform which allows families to choose between three 4 hour blocks (8am-12pm/12pm-4pm/4pm-8pm) for classroom time
  • Springpoint Schools published its Guide to High School Planning for remote and hybrid schedules
  • The Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy released a guide for remote learning that walks the user through a series of checkpoints and best practices