- I cannot and will not say that Fordham’s recent report on interdistrict open enrollment had anything to do with the announcement this week that Washington Local Schools was going to consider opening up their borders for open enrollment for the first time. In fact, given the blatant and repeated comments emphasizing money money money in this piece, I think we can safely conclude that Fordham’s research findings did not factor into the decision at all. Luckily, our findings on OE do seem to indicate that this could be one time where students might actually benefit from a district’s single-minded pursuit of money. Shhh… Don’t tell them though! (Toledo Blade, 1/20/21)
- It is interesting to think about what “open enrollment” really means in a time where lots of kids are attending school remotely. (Let’s think for a second what that might be like…) But that time may be starting to come to a close. Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools started back to fully in-person learning this week after being in hybrid or fully-remote modes variously since the start of the school year. The elected school board president said students told him it was “strange to be back in school but great.” We did learn that approximately 15 percent of district families opted to stay fully remote. (Cleveland.com, 1/21/21)
- Cincinnati City Schools is sticking with its plan to transition to a hybrid learning model starting February 1. The transition plan seems pretty complex and several aspects are incomplete. One interesting aspect covered here is that families not comfortable sending their children into the buildings in February will be required to attend a virtual school which some of those parents feel will be inferior since it’s run by a third party provider. Additionally, it sounds as if that choice will be locked in for the rest of the school year—no backsies!—no matter what might happen in terms of learning model changes for everyone else. Sounds messy. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 1/21/21)
- Lots of teachers around Ohio also seem concerned by the “unrealistic expectations” of state and local leaders in the vaccine-fueled move to get more kids and teachers back in school buildings by March. As I sit here, I honestly have no idea how this will all shake out. You? (Cleveland 19 News, 1/22/21)
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