Tuesday, November 24, 2020

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Nov. 24, 2020: Help Keep Our Schools Open – Mask, Social Distance; Avoid Gatherings

Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, superintendents, school solicitors, principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

 

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If any of your colleagues would like to be added to the email list please have them send their name, title and affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com

 

 

Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Nov. 24, 2020

Help Keep Our Schools Open – Mask, Social Distance; Avoid Gatherings

 

 

Congratulations to #331 @AvellaArea for passing the charter funding reform resolution on November 12. Thank you to @senbartolotta, PA State Rep. Josh Kail and PSBA Ambassador @LenaHannah4https://t.co/WbCdKgRMOg

 

 

PA Schools Work Points to Continued Need for School Funding  

Lawmakers Must Immediately Look to Rectify Long-standing Funding Gaps to Keep Students on Track and Address Dire Needs of PA School Districts

HARRISBURG, PA (November 21, 2020) – The statewide education advocacy campaign PA Schools Work issued the following statement on funding for public schools in Pennsylvania after the General Assembly passed a budget for the remainder of the 2020-21 fiscal year:

“The General Assembly passed a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year under difficult financial conditions, so it is understandable that this supplemental budget did not invest more in our public schools beyond the flat-funded budget passed earlier this year. Yet that should not obscure the fact that our schools, and the students they serve, continue to struggle. “As Coronavirus cases spike across the commonwealth, school districts are again facing difficult decisions about creating learning environments that are both conducive to educating and safe for students, teachers, and support staff. Educating students during this pandemic means increased costs for school districts, even as they continue to deal with shortfalls in local revenue created by the COVID-driven economic turmoil.

“This school year has been a monumental challenge, but next year will also be difficult. As the legislative session draws to a close and legislators leave Harrisburg, they should recognize that increased education funding should be front and center when they begin deliberating next year’s budget early in 2021.  While lawmakers recognized the need for some financial certainty by level funding school districts for this school year, that funding does not meet the true need in our schools. “In Pennsylvania, we have a longstanding, multi-billion dollar problem in our schools that continues to worsen. It will not disappear even when the pandemic does. As we have said year after year, state lawmakers must reach a permanent school funding solution that fairly invests in all our students and positions them to succeed.”

https://paschoolswork.org/pa-schools-work-points-to-continued-need-for-school-funding/

 

As Thanksgiving nears, Pa. tells people to stay home and bars not to serve Wednesday night

Inquirer by Justine McDaniel and Erin McCarthy, Posted: November 23, 2020- 8:00 PM

With the state gripped by the surge in coronavirus cases, Pennsylvania officials rolled out a wave of new restrictions and mitigation measures Monday in their latest bid to keep schools safe, hospitals from running out of beds, and bars from becoming super-spreaders over the looming holiday break. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration issued a statewide stay-at-home advisory and said “unless impossible” all businesses should operate remotely and allow employees to telework as soon as Friday — although Wolf emphasized that it was not a shutdown order. With more than 3,000 coronavirus patients hospitalized in the commonwealth, health officials announced new triggers for when hospitals must cut elective surgeries to free up beds. And nearly all public schools must pledge to follow safety protocols or shut down in-person learning.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/coronavirus-covid-19-pa-surge-orders-stay-at-home-restrictions-thanksgiving-bars-nj-philly-20201123.html

 

PDE Website: What's New?

This page provides an overview of information, specific to COVID-19 and school communities, that has been added to/updated on the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) website. Please note: entries may include content that is accessible from PDE’s website but is maintained on another website (ex. the Pennsylvania Department of Health).

Week of November 23 to November 27:

https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/Pages/WhatsNew.aspx

 

As fall surge rages on, Pennsylvania passes 300,000 total cases of COVID-19

Hospitalizations are also on the rise.

WITF by Lisa Wardle  NOVEMBER 21, 2020 | 3:36 PM

Pennsylvania has marked another grim milestone: more than 300,000 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The Pennsylvania Department of Health today reported a total of 302,564 cases after weeks of multiple record-setting daily increases. It took more than four months for the state to accumulate its first 100,000 cases of COVID-19, a milestone passed on July 18. Today’s news comes less than a month after Pennsylvania surpassed 200,000 cases, on Oct. 28. While testing has increased from levels seen in the spring, this drastic rise in cases isn’t entirely the result of additional testing. The state’s positivity rate — the percentage of tests coming back positive — was 9.6% for the week of Nov. 6 to 12, indicating rapid spread of infections. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has urged residents to spend Thanksgiving with their own household instead of participating in larger holiday gatherings.

https://www.witf.org/2020/11/21/as-fall-surge-rages-on-pennsylvania-passes-300000-total-cases-of-covid-19/

 

Williams — It’s Our Own Damn Fault: Too Many Have Treated a COVID Catastrophe as an Inconvenience, Leaving Our Health in Grave Danger and Our Kids Locked Out of School

Conor Williams the74 November 22, 2020

Conor P. Williams is a fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.

I yell a lot these days. Course, it’s not the same as college yelling, the hollering you do in a basement full of cheap beer and throngs of people stomping around to too much bass. Or bleacher yelling, when you’re informing the visiting right fielder of the low quality of his skill, character and breeding. No, I am a working dad in a lengthening pandemic. I only yell in a kind of muted yell-as-stage-whisper: loud enough to clearly project my voice, but not too loud to wake up the kids. Not so loud that they hear the cracks in the facade you’ve hoisted for the past eight months. My Washington, D.C. home plays host to two full-time jobs and three children under the age of 10. The older two kids log onto elementary school each day. The toddler and I tour our neighborhood’s construction sites and yell at cement mixers — while I miss meetings and deadlines and meals and rest.

https://www.the74million.org/article/coronavirus-consequences-ownership-students-no-school/

 

CHOP-led study confirms COVID-19 is rare in kids, but more severe among children of color

Inquirer by Marie McCullough, Posted: November 23, 2020- 11:00 AM

A huge study of pediatric patients across the country found only 4% were infected with the new coronavirus, and the vast majority of those cases were mild or asymptomatic. The study, led by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, quantifies and confirms — but doesn’t attempt to explain — one of the biggest mysteries of the pandemic: Why an infection that has so far killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide is uncommon and mostly harmless in children. For the analysis, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers at CHOP and six other U.S. children’s hospitals reviewed electronic health records of almost 136,000 pediatric patients, from infants to age 24. All were tested for COVID-19 either because they had symptoms or needed to be screened before admission for a medical procedure. Of the 5,374 children and adolescents who tested positive, less than 7% developed severe illness that required hospitalization. Eight of them, most with complex preexisting medical problems, died, for a fatality rate of 0.15%. Infection was more common, and more likely to be severe, among Black, Hispanic and Asian patients, adolescents ages 12 to 17, those with public health insurance, and those with certain chronic medical conditions.

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/chop-led-study-confirms-covid-19-mostly-spares-children-20201123.html

 

Guest Column: Education in the pandemic

Delco Times By Joseph Batory Times Guest Columnist November 23, 2020

As a former superintendent of schools in the Upper Darby School District, I have tremendous empathy for the monumental obstacles being faced by today’s school superintendents, principals, teachers, students and parents, especially in dealing with the Covid 19 crisis.

H.L. Menken said it best when he noted that “for every complex problem there is a simple solution…and it is usually wrong.”  The pandemic in our nation has brought unprecedented challenges to schools. And there is certainly no “one size fits all” way to deal with this crisis. So, we are seeing a variety of models and approaches by educators. But, regardless of the strategy, the basic principles for educational success must remain in place.

https://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/guest-column-education-in-the-pandemic/article_f53d2f50-2dec-11eb-bfc8-db6185a36d6c.html

 

Thanksgiving lessons in U.S. schools have jettisoned Pilgrim hats and added conflict and injustice

Inquirer by Collin Binkley, Associated Press, Posted: November 23, 2020- 11:05 AM

BOSTON — A friendly feast shared by the plucky Pilgrims and their native neighbors? That’s yesterday’s Thanksgiving story. Students in many U.S. schools are now learning a more complex lesson that includes conflict, injustice and a new focus on the people who lived on the land for hundreds of years before European settlers arrived and named it New England. Inspired by the nation’s reckoning with systemic racism, schools are scrapping and rewriting lessons that treated Native Americans as a footnote in a story about white settlers. Instead of making Pilgrim hats, students are hearing what scholars call “hard history” — the more shameful aspects of the past. Students still learn about the 1621 feast, but many are also learning that peace between the Pilgrims and Native Americans was always uneasy and later splintered into years of conflict.

https://www.inquirer.com/education/thanksgiving-lessons-schools-pilgrims-native-americans-20201123.html

 

A Buckeye Voucher Victory

Ohio expands private school choice to half of all students.

Wall Street Journal Editorial By The Editorial Board Nov. 23, 2020 6:42 pm ET (paywall)

The pandemic has been especially tough on low- and middle-income families, but the GOP Legislature in Ohio has given parents in their state something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving by passing a major expansion of private-school vouchers. Legislation approved late last week expands eligibility for the state’s private-school scholarship program to families earning up to 250% of the poverty line from 200%. Students in schools where at least 20% of families are low-income or that fall in the bottom 20% of academic performance...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-buckeye-voucher-victory-11606174978?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

 

Covid-19 claims Jeannette elementary school secretary

Trib Live by JEFF HIMLER   | Monday, November 23, 2020 9:05 p.m.

The Jeannette community is mourning the loss of Dana Hall, a secretary at Jeannette City School District, who died of covid-19 complications on Sunday. Jeannette football Coach Roy Hall confirmed the death of his sister-in-law, whom he said was last at work a week and a half ago before she became ill. She later was admitted to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where she eventually was placed on a ventilator and succumbed Sunday afternoon. Roy Hall couldn’t say how his sister-in-law may have contracted covid-19. He expressed sadness that she has joined the growing number of Americans who have died of the illness. “There are over 250,000 families who feel like our family does today,” he said.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/covid-19-claims-jeannette-elementary-school-secretary/

 

PIAA might decrease football title game crowds based on new state mitigation guidance

GoErie By Times-News staff November 23, 2020

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association might have to severely decrease the size of football championship crowds this weekend based on the state's new COVID-19 mitigation guidelines. When the PIAA officially announced Monday morning the schedule for this weekend's six football titles games in Hershey — three games Friday and three Saturday — the organization announced that up to 990 tickets would be available to each school. That would make the gathering size for each game well over 2,000, including players, coaches, staff, officials and media. The PIAA's goal was to stay under 2,500, the limit at the time. However, on Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced new gathering limits in an effort to contain the spread of COVID. Those guidelines limited any stadium with a capacity of 10,000 or more fans to 5% of capacity. 

https://www.goerie.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/11/23/piaas-final-schedule-released-football-championship-games/6393503002/

 

“Feinberg ended Thursday’s meeting telling parents and residents if they want to help keep schools open, they should wear a mask, social distance, apply to be a substitute teacher, and reconsider traveling or large gatherings over the Thanksgiving holidays.”

Haverford schools returning to all-virtual classes

Delco Times Pete Bannan Pbannan@21st-Centurymedia.com November 24, 2020

Haverford School board members met Monday evening to vote on returning to all-virtual classes.

At a special meeting of the School District of Haverford Township Monday evening, board members voted to return to a fully virtual setting for all students in the district following the Thanksgiving holiday. The vote was 8-1, with Ari Flaisher opposing. At the district’s regular November meeting, which was held virtually on Zoom last Thursday, Schools Superintendent Dr. Maureen Reusche said staffing challenges in the elementary level, particularly with instructional assistants and teaching staff, were one of the major factors guiding the decision. “We recognize that shifting to a virtual model presents families with the challenge of adjusting their carefully made plans and routines. Please know that every decision about our instructional model throughout this pandemic is made thoughtfully and with considerable deliberation,” Reusche wrote in a letter to parents Friday. Wednesday will be the last day of in-person school with students returning virtually the Monday after the holiday weekend. The district hopes to return to in-person hybrid learning Dec. 9; however, that may involve only younger students and students who receive a high level of special education services. Speaking at the start of the meeting was Dr. Patrick Brennan, chief medical officer and senior vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems, who pointed to the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections in the area. “In Delaware County, the incidence is over 230 cases per 100,000 (persons), which is up from 92 just four weeks ago,” said Brennan. “The test positivity rate, which was under 3 percent in the county at one point, rose to 4.7 percent four weeks ago and is now around 9.4 percent.”

https://www.delcotimes.com/news/haverford-schools-returning-to-all-virtual-classes/article_8c363548-2de1-11eb-9fd5-6f079c6d7e61.html

 

School districts must sign off on covid-19 safety procedures or go virtual by month’s end

Trib Live by JEFF HIMLER   | Monday, November 23, 2020 8:57 p.m.

School districts in Westmoreland, Armstrong and Allegheny counties have until 5 p.m. Nov. 30 to switch to full remote instruction or affirm that they are complying with the state’s covid-19 safety measures. Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine announced the new directive Monday for all public schools in counties that have experienced a “substantial” level of transmission of the covid-19 virus for at least two consecutive weeks. As of Friday, with cases spiking across most of the state, there were 59 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties that had seen those heightened case levels since Nov. 6 — including Westmoreland, Armstrong and Allegheny, according to state data.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/area-school-districts-must-sign-off-on-covid-19-safety-procedures-or-go-virtual-by-months-end/

 

Quakertown high school goes virtual Monday because of staffing shortages

By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING CALL | NOV 23, 2020 AT 5:11 PM

Quakertown Community High School switched to virtual learning Monday because teachers called out sick after a number of students attended an event over the weekend. High school Principal Mattias van ‘t Hoenderdaal sent an email Monday telling parents that the school was experiencing “a large number of staffing shortages.” He referenced an event held over the weekend at a local business, which students attended. “We believe that this staff shortage is due to concerns about an event that occurred in our community this week that a large crowd of students attended, causing a potential safety concern to themselves,” van ‘t Hoenderdaal wrote in the email, which The Morning Call viewed. “To avoid this in the future please encourage your children to wear their mask, to social distance, and to avoid large gatherings.”

District officials did not return messages Monday. Quakertown middle and high school students went back to school full time as of last week.

https://www.mcall.com/news/education/mc-nws-quakertown-high-school-virtual-staffing-shortages-20201123-arxvn5bsjfgltmkvt5dtagst7y-story.html

 

Alburtis Elementary is the latest East Penn school to close early ahead of Thanksgiving because of COVID-19

By MICHELLE MERLIN THE MORNING CALL | NOV 23, 2020 AT 2:43 PM

Alburtis Elementary School is closing Tuesday, a few days ahead of schedule before the Thanksgiving break. District officials Monday announced another case of the coronavirus at the school, after previously announcing cases Wednesday and Saturday. The district already closed Eyer Middle School and Emmaus High School ahead of the break. All East Penn schools will be closed after the Thanksgiving break until Dec. 14.

https://www.mcall.com/news/education/mc-nws-east-penn-alburtis-closure-20201123-qqya42zxlzdujnzksuixwhntay-story.html

 

Fox Chapel Area schools back to remote teaching for students

Post-Gazette by RITA MICHEL NOV 23, 2020 12:35 PM

In yet another example of how quickly COVID-19 changes things, Fox Chapel Area School District administrators have gone from urging the school board to open all its buildings to in-school learning at its Nov. 9 meeting to announcing -- four days later -- that all students will now attend virtually. Superintendent Mary Catherine Reljac notified families of the course change in an email to parents last Friday. The school board had planned a Dec. 1 vote on whether to reopen all district schools to students and had invited parental input on the decision. That move now is on hold.

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2020/11/19/Fox-Chapel-Area-schools-back-to-remote-teaching-for-students/stories/202011200036?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1606153133

 

Warrior Run to go virtual after Thanksgiving

By Kevin Mertz/The Standard-Journal November 23, 2020

TURBOTVILLE — Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases across the region, the Warrior Run School District will be switching to a virtual learning model for at least three days following the Thanksgiving break. During meeting held online via Zoom on Monday, the board approved converting Tuesday, Dec. 1, from a return to in-school instruction for students after the break to a teacher in-service day. In addition, the board approved converting Dec. 2-4 from in-school to virtual learning days.

https://www.standard-journal.com/news/local/article_c9103864-91aa-5835-bbcf-a4bada9904e3.html

 

Camp Hill board votes to move to remote learning for at least 2 weeks

Penn Live By Paul Vigna | pvigna@pennlive.com Updated Nov 24, 2020; Posted Nov 23, 2020

Following more than three hours of comments, the Camp Hill School Board on Monday night voted to move to fully remote learning for two weeks, from Dec. 1-11. The board is next scheduled to meet Dec. 7 and will reassess the situation and make a determination of whether to stay remote or return students to the classroom. Thanksgiving break for students and teachers will begin Wednesday and continue through Nov. 30. They will have a half-day in the classroom Tuesday before the vacation begins.

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/11/camp-hill-board-votes-to-move-to-remote-learning-for-at-least-2-weeks.html

 

3rd Hempfield school closes due to rise in covid-19 cases

Trib Live by MEGAN TOMASIC   | Tuesday, November 24, 2020 4:20 a.m.

Another Hempfield Area school is closing as covid-19 cases continue to rise. Harrold Middle School will close Tuesday due to staffing shortages in relation to positive test results and staffers being identified as close contacts, said Superintendent Tammy Wolicki. The closure will last through Dec. 1 in conjunction with the Thanksgiving break.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/3rd-hempfield-school-closes-due-to-rise-in-covid-19-cases/

 

“Thousands of people crowded Main Street in downtown Irwin on Nov. 19 for a holiday parade. Some people wore masks, others did not.”

Norwin reports 13 more coronavirus cases; pushes total to 78

Trib Live JOE NAPSHA   | Monday, November 23, 2020 6:21 p.m.

The spike in coronavirus cases among Norwin’s students and staff continued this week with the school district reporting 13 more on Monday — 10 students and three staff members. On Monday, three students each at the high school and at Stewartsville Elementary reported they tested positive for coronavirus along with two students at Hillcrest Intermediate and one each at the middle school and Sheridan Terrace Elementary. Two staff members tested positive at Sheraden Terrace and one at the high school also tested positive for coronavirus.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-reports-13-more-covid-19-cases-pushes-total-to-78/

 

Highlands moving all students to remote learning

Trib Live by BRIAN C. RITTMEYER   | Monday, November 23, 2020 9:39 p.m.

Highlands School District will move all students to full remote instruction beginning Dec. 1 and continuing through Jan. 15, the district announced Monday. All extracurricular activities and sports will be suspended during that time. The announcement comes a week after the district closed its middle school through the Thanksgiving break because of covid-19 cases among students and staff.

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/highlands-moving-all-students-to-remote-learning/

 

Kiski Area High School reopens, district introduces online covid tracker

Trib Live by TEGHAN SIMONTON   | Monday, November 23, 2020 4:31 p.m.

Kiski Area High School reopened Monday after a week-long closure, allowing students to attend class in person for up to four days a week. Students had moved online last week after seven cases of covid-19 were reported among students and staff. The school district had just reported two new cases Friday – an additional student at the high school and a staff member at Kiski Area South Primary School – bringing the district-wide total to 24.

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/kiski-area-high-school-reopens-district-introduces-online-covid-tracker/

 

Lackawanna Trail teacher tests positive for virus; Elk Lake staffer awaits results

Times Tribune by SARAH HOFIUS HALL Nov 23, 2020 Updated 2 hrs ago

A kindergarten teacher at Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center is the latest educator in the region to test positive for the coronavirus. The district, one of the only in the region to remain fully open, started to alert students and staff Monday afternoon. Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas said the teacher and 13 students will have to quarantine. The students will be able to learn from home. This is the first case at the school since September. The district’s high school closed for two weeks last month due to nine cases among students and staff. About 50% of students have opted for a fully virtual option.

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/education/lackawanna-trail-teacher-tests-positive-for-virus-elk-lake-staffer-awaits-results/article_103a900f-dc8b-5074-b1d4-0ffac567e7a8.html

 

Two New Brighton Students Test Positive for COVID-19

NOVEMBER 23, 2020 / BEAVER COUNTY RADIO

(New Brighton, Pa.) The New Brighton School District announced via the school district website that both an elementary school student and a middle school student have tested positive for COVID-19. The school district is currently working at contact tracing for both students. The middle school student was last in school on November 16, 2020 and the elementary student was last in school on November 20, 2020.  The district also issued a letter warning parents of the possibility of the school district transitioning to an all virtual learning model after the increase in cases locally.

https://beavercountyradio.com/news/two-new-brighton-students-test-positive-for-covid-19/

 

 

Adopt the 2020 PSBA resolution for charter school funding reform

In this legislative session, PSBA has been leading the charge with the Senate, House of Representatives and the Governor’s Administration to push for positive charter reform. We’re now asking you to join the campaign: Adopt the resolution: We’re asking all school boards to adopt the 2020 resolution for charter school funding reform at your next board meeting and submit it to your legislators and to PSBA.

Resolution for charter funding reform (pdf)

Link to submit your adopted resolution to PSBA

 

332 PA school boards have adopted charter reform resolutions

Charter school funding reform continues to be a concern as over 300 school boards across the state have adopted a resolution calling for legislators to enact significant reforms to the Charter School Law to provide funding relief and ensure all schools are held to the same quality and ethics standards. Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform. Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from the unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions of dollars to charter schools.

The school boards from the following districts have adopted resolutions calling for charter funding reform. 

https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/

 

Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then Call for Charter Change!

PSBA Charter Change Website:

https://www.pacharterchange.org/

 

The Network for Public Education Action Conference has been rescheduled to April 24-25, 2021 at the Philadelphia Doubletree Hotel

 

Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization that I may be affiliated with.


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