Ohio’s Covid guidance for fall
This week, the Ohio Department of Health released its Covid guidance for K-12 schools for the upcoming school year. Among other provisions, masking of students and staff is “strongly recommend” but will not be mandated. You can read the full guidance here.
Summer programming
In some schools around Ohio, summer programming is winding up or just completed. Here’s a great look at this year’s “Summer Launch” program at Dayton Leadership Academies. It is characterized as “targeted instruction with a fun twist” and sounds like a blast.
Eye-opening
One Georgia mom says that pandemic-related education school disruptions opened up her eyes to the world of other education choices available around here. She is thrilled with the charter school her two younger children now attend, telling a local news outlet, “Their whole instructional model is so targeted at meeting the children where they are, and I love that.”
New research
A new report released by the University of Arkansas’ Charter School Demonstration Project looks at the differences between supports for students with special needs in charter and traditional district schools. Findings indicate that while parents are seeking out charter schools in growing numbers, the long-standing funding gaps between charters and districts persist even in the area of special education.
The view from Detroit
As Detroit’s population declined in the 1990s and 2000s, nearly 200 district school buildings were closed and largely abandoned. In 2014, the City of Detroit took possession of 57 of them in exchange for forgiveness of unpaid electric bills. Today, 39 of those buildings are still standing—still unused—and city leaders are launching a new effort to see them revitalized. While commercial development seems to be their preferred path, charter schools are likely to have the opportunity to bid on the facilities as well.
Important funding opportunity
The Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund is a $7 billion program intended to help schools and libraries “provide the tools and services their communities need for remote learning during the Covid-19 emergency period.” The program is open to schools, libraries, and consortia of schools and libraries that are eligible for support under the FCC’s E-Rate Program and grants can cover costs of laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems and routers, and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students or staff. The deadline for application is August 13. More information on eligibility and the application process can be found here.
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