COVID Current Events as of June 29, 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. These items are pulled from many sources, but we want to especially acknowledge EdWeek, ASBO's School Business Daily and Vestigo Partners, whose great COVID resources we highly recommend.

 Constraints from Social Distancing:

• Upcoming Report: Tulane University to study how every school district in the nation responded to school closures. Results slated for early July covering the following:
• How quickly schools and districts responded to school closures
• Personalization and engagement in instruction
• Non-academic engagement, such as morning meetings and office hours
• Academic expectations, including grading policies and time spent on subjects
• Whether other services like free lunch and counseling continued
• “Equity of access” for English learners, students with disabilities and students who needed internet connectivity or devices
• TEA released its PPE distribution plan for Texas schools, which includes the procurement of 53,000,000 disposable masks

Student Need:

• The USDA announced waivers and flexibilities to ensure continued food service next school year

Revenue/Cost Projections:

• CCSSO estimates that it will require $245B in additional federal support to safely reopen schools
• Estimate takes into account: costs associated with operating remote and in-person instruction, addressing students' academic learning loss, and anticipated decline in state and local funding for education
• Kipp DC announced that it will cost $350,000 to clean the air in their 7 buildings

Implications for System:

• Connecticut released its reopening guidance with the intention to reopen fully in-person

• Wisconsin released reopening guidelines that detail potential schedule options, including scenarios in which students rotate between teacher-led classes and independent work
• MA released its reopening guidance, which includes opportunities to apply for additional COVID-related grant funding of up to $225/pupil
• Louisiana’s reopening guidance includes an addendum that allows districts to apply for support funding for innovative staffing
• EdWeek released a Guide to Guides

Assessments:

• Memphis superintendent is the first in the state to submit a request to the governor to cancel testing
• In an EY-hosted webinar, John White, former state superintendent of Louisiana, made a case for the importance of continued testing next year to assess

Implications for Schools:

• As part of its ‘How we go back to school’ series, EdWeek released guidance for next year’s schedule creation

Reopening Plans (CRPE District Response Tracker) :

• The vast majority of districts are still in the planning phase of reopening; of the 100 districts they studied, CRPE found that only Detroit Public Schools had a formalized plan (as of 6/29)

• Chandler USD, a 45,000+ student district in AZ, plans to delay school opening by 2 weeks; they will shorten mid-year school breaks from 2 weeks to 1 week

• In a New Orleans survey:
• 49% of teachers say they would not feel comfortable returning to work
• 56% of parents would like distance learning as an option next year