BY JOHN BOWDEN – 11/12/20 © istock Detroit’s public school system on Thursday moved to suspend all in-person classes for the remainder of 2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak in the state surges. A notice posted on the community district’s website stated that students would return to in-person learning on Jan. 11 at the earliest, while the policy shifting all students to…
Category: School Safety
As More Students Return To School, Officials Brace For ‘Rolling Blackouts’
‘Rolling Blackouts’ MARY SCOTT HODGIN | NOVEMBER 4, 2020 Jefferson County Schools Deep cleaning at Grantswood Community School because of COVID-19. A new online dashboard is tracking cases of the coronavirus in Alabama schools. While state education officials are optimistic they can control the spread of the virus, some challenges remain. Most schools have already reopened…
Montgomery teachers call in sick to protest conditions as students return
Updated Oct 14, 2020; Posted Oct 14, 2020 By Sarah Whites-Koditschek A group of Montgomery teachers are taking sick days in protest of the district’s in-person reopening this week. “It’s not safe,” said Tynisa Williams, a teacher at Brewbaker Middle School who is protesting the district’s re-opening by staying home. “We were not given a plan for…
More Alabama students returning to class despite virus worry
Posted Oct 13, 2020 MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of Alabama students who’ve spent the coronavirus pandemic in virtual classrooms are returning to traditional instruction despite safety concerns and continuing school shutdowns linked to COVID-19. Schools in Jefferson County began allowing elementary students to return to class full-time on Monday, and additional systems that have offered…
New quarantine rules for Alabama schools means fewer sent home
Updated Oct 09, 2020; Posted Oct 08, 2020 By Trisha Powell Crain CORRECTED at 9:00 a.m. on Oct. 9 to show that changes affect only close contacts, not symptomatic students or school employees. New guidance for schools from the Alabama Department of Public Health should mean fewer students and staff sent home to quarantine for possible exposure…
Alabama statewide school COVID tracker to debut Oct. 30; Here’s how it works
Updated Oct 28, 2020; Posted Oct 27, 2020 By Trisha Powell Crain Alabamians anxious to get a look at the prevalence of COVID-19 among students, teachers, and staff in schools statewide will get their chance on Friday. The dashboard, in the works since late August, will be published on the Alabama Department of Public Health website and will…
Coronavirus has changed school forever, let’s make it an improvement
It’s time to re-imagine public education not just to face the pandemic, but to eliminate racial and economic inequities we’ve long known about Arne Duncan and Rey SaldañaOpinion contributors As an unprecedented academic year grinds to an end, with schools shuttered and millions of children learning remotely in every state, education leaders face the daunting…
Texas Teachers Object To School Reopening Plan
Chelsey Zhu June 19, 2020 Two teachers’ unions in Texas have strong objections to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan for reopening public schools in August. They’re criticizing the governor’s lack of transparency with educators. Abbott told lawmakers yesterday that schools would reopen in the fall for in-person instruction. Remote learning will be available for families with health concerns,…
House Democrats call for more federal aid for public education
By Allison Stevens -June 16, 2020 WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats have called for more federal aid for education as the nation’s schools prepare to reopen this fall. “Unless the federal government provides immediate relief, it won’t be a matter of whether education funding will be cut, but how deep the cuts will be,” said U.S. Rep. Bobby…
Alabama roadmap to open K-12 schools nearly ready, state chief says
June 11, 2020 By Trisha Powell Crain Alabama’s roadmap for reopening K-12 public schools in August will be a multi-tiered plan and will include a virtual option for parents uncomfortable sending their children back inside school buildings, according state superintendent Eric Mackey. Tiers in the plan will be based on the spread of coronavirus in the…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 