Monday, October 19, 2020

PA Ed Policy Roundup for October 19, 2020: This Election Day, vote like your kids’ future depends on it | Opinion

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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Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup for October 19, 2020

This Election Day, vote like your kids’ future depends on it | Opinion

 

 

Today, Monday, October 19, is the last day to register to vote or change your registration.  Find deadlines, links and everything you need to know at the PA Department of State Ready to Vote page:

https://www.votespa.com/readytovote/Pages/default.aspx

 

 

Why are cyber charter tuition rates the same as brick and mortar tuition?

Taxpayers in House Ed Committee Member Steve McCarter’s school districts paid over $780K in 2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.

 

Cheltenham SD

$629,117.00

Jenkintown SD

N/A

Springfield Township SD

$151,018.80

 

$780,135.80

Source: PDE via PSBA

 

“This is a high-stakes election for public school students. …Let’s make sure we elect lawmakers who value public schools, prioritize equity in school funding, and who will support a system that works for all students.”

This Election Day, vote like your kids’ future depends on it | Opinion

By Susan Spicka Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor October 18, 2020

Susan Spicka is the education policy director for Education Voters of PA Action.

An Oct. 9 story in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star highlights a problem many voters face: In this pandemic, when many candidates do not hold public meetings, it is hard for voters to get information on where candidates stand. Lawmakers’ policy choices have human consequences. Whoever is elected to the General Assembly on Nov. 3 is going to need to reckon with a state budget that has been profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 economic downturn. State lawmakers will be faced with decisions about how to fund programs that will take care of people and move the Commonwealth forward, all while facing enormous revenue shortfalls. In an effort to help voters understand candidates’ positions key issues related to public education, Education Voters of PA Action emailed a questionnaire to all candidates for Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. We received a response from about one third of the candidates. They are posted on a website www.edvoterspaaction.org, where voters can search for candidate responses by district number. No response does not necessarily reflect that a candidate has a bad position on an issue. Voters who want to learn about a candidates’ positions when there is no questionnaire response can visit their websites and use our questions to see if candidates have addressed key education issues, which include school vouchers/school privatization, charter school funding reforms, and equitable funding for districts where students lack the basic resources necessary to learn.

https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/this-election-day-vote-like-your-kids-future-depends-on-it-opinion/

 

Trump's And Biden's Plans For Education

NPR by ELENA MOORE October 16, 20208:09 AM ET

BIDEN AND TRUMP ON THE ISSUES
Key priorities

Joe Biden

  • Make public colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions tuition-free for families making less than $125,000.
  • Make two years of community college and training programs tuition-free.
  • Cancel $10,000 of every American's student debt and revise the current loan repayment system.
  • Establish universal prekindergarten.
  • Read details of Biden's plans below.

Donald Trump

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/919203532/trumps-and-biden-s-plans-for-education#trumpplan

 

Pa. has to pass a budget soon. Here’s what is on the table.

PA Capital Star By  Stephen CarusoElizabeth Hardison October 18, 2020

Budget debates in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol are fast-moving affairs in the best of years, with legislative leaders talking behind closed doors with little input from the public. This year, however, brings some historic variables: a pandemic, a major election, and volatile unemployment. Pennsylvania’s General Assembly has to pass a new budget by Nov. 30. That’s when the current budget expires, and when the current legislative session ends.  But in order to approve new spending and revenue plans, lawmakers must confront a projected $5 billion tax revenue shortfall that’s expected to endure through 2021 — the result of job losses and slow economic activity during the pandemic-induced recession.  Lawmakers typically pass a 12 month budget in June before sending it to the governor for his signature. But this year, Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled General Assembly  agreed to a $28.5 billion, five-month interim budget as the state emerged from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/pa-has-to-pass-a-budget-soon-heres-whats-on-the-table/

 

Deadline looms to finish state budget

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OCT 17, 2020 10:24 PM

HARRISBURG — Months after passing a partial budget that avoided some hard decisions, Pennsylvania’s Legislature and governor face a deadline at the end of November to finish the job and plug a multibillion-dollar deficit. The partially funded budget that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed in May was incomplete by design. It was approved amid uncertainty about the scale of federal coronavirus support and about the pandemic’s effect on state revenues and costs. Five months later, the $25.8 billion deal that funded many governmental functions and programs is expiring on Nov. 30, which is also the last day of the two-year legislative session. There is little more certainty now about where funding for the budget gap, estimated to be more than $5 billion, will come from. The General Assembly meets for three days this week before lawmakers head home for the campaign’s final stretch, and there is no expectation they will finish their work on the budget before Election Day.That means the governor and lawmakers will have to iron out a deal during a lame-duck session between Nov. 3 and Nov. 30 on what will be a painful budget, while also contending with legislative retirements and possible leadership battles. Lawmakers will leave at the end of November and likely would not return until the new session begins early next year.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2020/10/18/Deadline-looms-to-defuse-Pennsylvania-s-budget-time-bomb/stories/202010160144

 

Pennsylvania coronavirus update: Second highest case count of the pandemic recorded Saturday

By CHRISTINE SCHIAVO THE MORNING CALL | OCT 17, 2020 AT 5:18 PM

With a new surge of the coronavirus well underway, Saturday’s case count brought the second highest total in Pennsylvania since the start of the pandemic, with 1,857 new cases reported by the state Health Department. There were 132 fewer cases than the 1,989 reported April 9, the highest daily total. Nearly 200 cases were reported in Philadelphia and more than 130 cases in Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh, as well as more than 100 in Berks County.

https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-pa-coronavirus-second-highest-count-20201017-6opfckvosnee7h3ldv26eeuvue-story.html

 

Here’s how Democrats could flip the Pennsylvania legislature

WHYY By Katie Meyer October 12, 2020

After years of Republican dominance, Democrats and their supporters in Pennsylvania’s state House and Senate see a path to take control of both chambers this year. For the past several election cycles, Democrats have been slowly chipping away at strong GOP margins. And now, just nine Republican seats in the House and four in the Senate would have to flip to blue in order for power in Harrisburg to change hands. Just because they’re in the realm of possibility, though, doesn’t mean the legislature will have a dramatic shift. Election prognosticators at the Cook Political Report still have both chambers ranked as “lean Republican,” which means there’s a better shot of continued GOP control than not. And as Democrats stake out vulnerable Republican seats, Republicans are doing the same thing. Several Democrats are hanging on to seats in reddening areas and could be ousted.

https://whyy.org/articles/heres-how-democrats-could-flip-the-pennsylvania-legislature/

 

Virtual school lets teachers see directly into students’ lives. Here’s what they’re learning

WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent October 19, 2020

As soon as students logged on for the first day of virtual school, Reading School District teacher Kyle Wilson heard the first chirps. Was it something wrong with his headset? He waited. More beeps. And then more beeps. Finally, he realized: about a quarter of the students in his fifth-grade math and science classes didn’t have functioning smoke detectors in their homes. “I need to do something,” Wilson thought. So he did, fundraising over $1,200 on social media to make sure families in the district have working detectors. Those little beeps signaled something else — the fact that virtual education was bringing Wilson into his students’ homes. He was learning little details about their lives he’d never known before. Kyle Wilson, a teacher at Northeast Middle School in the Reading School District, works at his desk Oct. 18, 2020, in the basement of his Schwenksville home. (Matt Smith for Keystone Crossroads)

“Coming into the year, that was my biggest fear: ‘How the heck am I gonna get to know these kids?’” said Wilson. He’s been pleasantly surprised. Whether it’s a pet walking across the screen or a baby sibling babbling in the background, he feels like he’s connecting with his students in new ways. “It’s actually led to so many conversations just by what we see in each other’s homes,” said Wilson. “I’ve never met these kids and I feel like I know a lot of them very, very well.” In school districts with virtual education, teachers and students are spending hours a day beamed into each other’s homes. It’s a big departure from meeting face-to-face in school classrooms.

https://whyy.org/articles/virtual-school-lets-teachers-see-directly-into-students-lives-heres-what-theyre-learning/

 

Lehighton School District battles for cyber students

Times News Online BY JARRAD HEDES JMHEDES@TNONLINE.COM Published October 16. 2020 02:45PM

The tug-of-war battle over students between public school districts and public cyber charter schools has intensified greatly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 13, Pennsylvania’s 14 public cyber charter schools have enrolled more than 14,000 new students who have left their assigned school districts. The mass exodus has public districts pushing even harder for a revamped funding system, while cyber charters are defending their turf. During a Lehighton Area School District finance committee meeting Tuesday night, Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said between 150 and 180 LASD students are attending public cyber charter schools. “Any other school is competition for our district,” Cleaver said. “But we see it as an unfair competition because of the way many charter schools promote their education and portray things. You’ll see commercials that call it a free education, but the home district is paying for it so that’s not necessarily the case.”

https://www.tnonline.com/20201016/lehighton-school-district-battles-for-cyber-students/

 

Chester County Commissioners Announce $10 Million COVID-19 Public School Grant Program

Chester County Government News Posted on: October 16, 2020

Chester County Intermediate Unit to administer grants for all public school districts

The Chester County Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce a major grant program that will provide financial support to public schools in Chester County, all impacted by COVID-19. The Chester County COVID-19 Public School Grant Program provides $10 million to 12 school districts to help their schools comply with COVID-19-related public health measures. Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline approved a resolution authorizing the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) to administer the $10 million fund, which will be available immediately to 12 of the public school districts in Chester County.   Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Marian Moskowitz said, “Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our schools have been particularly hard-hit. The uncertainties of the virus have led to intensive planning, preparation – and revised planning – by school administrators and school board members, who have had to make tough decisions in trying to balance the desire for in-school learning with the need to ensure the health of students, teachers and staff.”  The $10 million Chester County COVID-19 Public School Grant Program is funded from CARES Act funding acquired by Chester County government. Each of the 12 school districts have been apportioned money by the County, based on Title 1 allocations.  Funding for the school districts ranges from over $330,000 to $ 2.4 million.

https://chesco.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1177

 

Erie School District's ventilation fixes moving along as return to in-person classes nears

Ed Palattella Erie Times-News October 19, 2020

Perhaps never before have the Erie School District's elementary school classrooms received so much attention and been on schedule to get repaired so quickly. The motivation, like so much of what is happening at the school district, is pandemic-driven. The district must make sure that the air inside its 10 elementary schools is fresh and circulating properly when the district's 4,900 elementary school students start in-person classes in a hybrid plan on Nov. 9. The students will attend in-person classes one week and remote classes the next, and vice versa, according to the schedule the Erie School Board approved on Wednesday. Poorly functioning ventilation systems at all of its 16 school buildings forced the 11,000-student Erie School District to delay in-person classes until November for all traditional students. The fixes to the system are on schedule to be done by Nov. 3 for the elementary schools and Dec. 8 for the middle and high schools, though those older students will continue to take online-only classes until the spring.

https://www.goerie.com/story/news/education/2020/10/19/erie-school-district-overhauls-ventilation-systems-due-covid-19/3517062001/

 

Council Rock North to remain closed through Wednesday

Chris English Bucks County Courier Times October 16, 2020

Council Rock High School North in Newtown Township will remain closed through Wednesday after five more student COVID-19 cases were reported during the week, school district Superintendent Robert Fraser announced Friday afternoon. He had announced Monday  the school's closure the rest of this week after five cases among students had come up during the previous week. The latest five cases, making a total of 10, prompted the decision to extend the closure, with the tentative plan now to reopen the school on Thursday. The 10 cases are in addition to three CR North student-athletes who tested positive before the school district started a hybrid instructional option Sept. 29.

https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/2020/10/16/council-rock-north-reopen-monday-after-being-closed-four-days/3679529001/

 

Quaker Valley middle school, high school moves to remote learning after sharp increase in COVID-19 cases

LAUREN LEE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette OCT 17, 2020 8:51 PM

Quaker Valley School District announced Saturday its middle school and high school are moving to remote learning for the next 14 days after a sharp hike in COVID-19 cases – and over 100 students and staff are quarantining.  In an email sent to parents, the district said they were notified of nine new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. On Thursday and Friday, the district had also been notified of two additional cases. This brings the total cases to 11 among the schools – with seven cases at the high school and four cases at the middle school.  “Our 11 cases across the District (over such a short time period) exceed the recommended threshold for school closures,” district officials said in the email. As a result, the district said remote learning will begin on Monday and end on Oct. 30. The district announced they have a COVID-19 Tracker on their website, which reports approximately 102 students and staff members are in quarantine. 

All athletics and activities for both schools will be put on hold as well, the district said, noting they will work with the WPIAL to determine the direction of their athletic teams.

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2020/10/17/Quaker-Valley-middle-high-school-remote-learning-increase-COVID-19-cases/stories/202010170070

 

Donegal High School suspended in-person classes due to 60 students quarantining after homecoming party

Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer Oct 17, 2020

Donegal High School suspended in-person classes for most of this week after learning nearly 60 students had to quarantine after coming into contact with a student who was presumably positive for COVID-19 at a homecoming party last weekend, LNP | LancasterOnline has learned. Dozens of students, including the Donegal school board president’s son, attended the party, which parents hosted in lieu of an official, district-affiliated dance, according to information from school officials, parents and social media posts. One of the students at the party was considered probable for COVID-19, forcing the high school to shift to online-only instruction Wednesday through Friday and postpone all extracurricular activities, including this week's football game against Ephrata. In-person learning is expected to resume Monday. 

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/donegal-high-school-suspended-in-person-classes-due-to-60-students-quarantining-after-homecoming-party/article_a2c99fb8-0fda-11eb-b603-97fccda88200.html

 

After nine COVID-19 cases, Lackawanna Trail students and teachers adjust to virtual learning

Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Oct 19, 2020 Updated 5 hrs ago

CLINTON TWP. — Shortly after 7:45 a.m., the principal of Lackawanna Trail Junior-Senior High School begins the daily announcements. His voice echoes through the mostly empty classrooms of the building, closed for two weeks to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Students hear the announcements from their computers at home. The students rise from their dining room tables, desks or a quiet spot in the basement and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s time for a full day of virtual learning. The district, which spans both Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, was one of the only in the region to reopen fully this fall. The junior-senior high school reported its first COVID-19 case Oct. 6, followed by eight more people with mild symptoms within the next week. The school remains closed until Oct. 26.

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/education/after-nine-covid-19-cases-lackawanna-trial-students-and-teachers-adjust-to-virtual-learning/article_1ad94efb-c1dc-518f-a7b7-aa2ee2d5a5e2.html

 

Wilkes-Barre Area goes virtual due to COVID-19 cases

Citizens’ Voice BY JAMES HALPIN STAFF WRITER  Oct 18, 2020 Updated 21 hrs ago

The Wilkes-Barre Area School District announced Saturday it is suspending in-person education until next month as a result of several confirmed COVID-19 cases. In a message to parents, Superintendent Brian Costello said the district has confirmed two to four positive cases in “multiple school buildings” in a two-week period. “As a result of these positive cases, based on (Pennsylvania) Department of Education recommendations, close collaboration with the Department of Health, and out of an abundance of caution all option one students (in-person) will transition to option two (live virtual sessions) beginning Monday,” Costello wrote. “In-person classes will be scheduled to resume on Wednesday, November 4.”

https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/wilkes-barre-area-goes-virtual-due-to-covid-19-cases/article_60808bb1-af11-5f61-a4bb-ab617bc63670.html

 

Elizabethtown middle and high schools move to online learning to start week

Penn Live By Becky Metrick | bmetrick@pennlive.com Updated Oct 18, 2020; Posted Oct 18, 2020

Two new cases of COVID-19 within the Elizabethtown School District has the middle and high school closing for two days, according to the district website. One of the cases was a confirmed positive case, while the other was a presumptive positive case at the high school, the district said. Based on the Department of Health’s “when to close a school” guidance and the recommendation of the school physician, the middle and high schools will move to online learning for Monday and Tuesday, the district said.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/10/elizabethtown-middle-and-high-schools-move-to-online-learning-to-start-week.html

 

Norwin reports 2 more covid-19 cases

Trib Live by JOE NAPSHA   | Saturday, October 17, 2020 2:08 p.m.

Two more Norwin elementary school students have tested positive for the coronavirus, the school district announced Saturday morning. One student attends Sunset Valley Elementary School, which has had covid-19 cases, and the other student attends Sheridan Terrace. This is the first Sheridan Terrace student the school district reported who had tested positive for the coronavirus. The state Department of Health, in coordination with the school nurses, is studying the two cases to determine if contact tracing is necessary, the district said. None of the 12 Norwin students and staff who previously reported having been infected with the virus contracted it while in school, according to the health department. Sunset Valley was one of Norwin’s five schools that were closed for three school days before reopening last Tuesday. The high school, middle school, intermediate school and Hahntown Elementary were the other schools that were closed because of students or staff being infected with covid-19.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-reports-two-more-covid-19-cases/

 

Hopewell Area School District moves to one day of remote learning after positive COVID-19 case

LAUREN LEE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  OCT 18, 2020 10:20 PM

Students in the Hopewell Area School District will learn remotely Monday after the district was notified of a positive COVID-19 case last week.  In a letter posted to the district’s website, superintendent Michelle Miller said the Department of Health has yet not made a recommendation to close the schools “due to the complexity of the recent case.”  The district, which consulted with epidemiologists over the past two days, chose anyways to utilize one day of remote instruction “out of an abundance of caution,” Ms. Miller said. 

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2020/10/18/Hopewell-Area-School-District-one-day-of-remote-learning-COVID-19-students-staff/stories/202010180241

 

Burrell High School student tests positive for covid-19

Trib Live by MARY ANN THOMAS   | Friday, October 16, 2020 5:15 p.m.

A Burrell High School student has tested positive for covid-19 and some students in the district have been asked to quarantine, said Shannon Wagner, superintendent for Burrell School District. Wagner sent a letter to parents Friday, saying, “We are following the Health Department recommendations and have notified families that need to quarantine.” While Wagner’s letter commends students and staff for keeping the school from illness, she advised parents to be prepared to “make the shift to virtual learning should your child have to quarantine at some point or the district has to switch to all virtual instruction for a period of time.”

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/burrell-high-school-student-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

 

Turtle Creek Steam Academy moves to remote learning for 5 days after employee tests positive for COVID-19

LAUREN LEE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette OCT 17, 2020 10:48 PM

Turtle Creek Steam Academy has moved to remote instruction after the district announced a building administrator has tested positive for COVID-19.  The school posted an announcement on its website written by Woodland Hills School District superintendent James Harris stating the building will immediately close “out of an abundance of caution.” Mr. Harris asks that teachers instruct remotely and that testing and self-quarantining for students and building staff are “highly recommended.”  Mr. Harris said the school will be closed Oct. 17 to Oct. 23. 

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2020/10/17/Turtle-Creek-Steam-Academy-Woodland-Hills-School-District-superintendent-James-Harris-COVID-19/stories/202010170076

 

Keystone Central SD: Student tests positive for COVID-19

Lockhaven Express FROM STAFF REPORTS OCT 19, 2020

MILL HALL — The Keystone Central School announced on Friday that its first district student has tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement appeared on the KCSD website Friday afternoon. The official statement came from KCSD superintendent Jacquelyn Martin. It read: “Dear KCSD Families: “Today I was informed that a Central Mountain High School student has tested positive for Covid-19. It has been determined that the student was exposed to the virus early last week in a non-school event. We have been in contact with the PA Department of Health to conduct contact tracing and have been in touch with all students and families who may be impacted. We have not received any reports of other students or staff members experiencing illnesses or symptoms resembling those of coronavirus.

https://www.lockhaven.com/news/local-news/2020/10/kcsd-student-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

 

Northwest Area SD going virtual after positive COVID-19 case

More schools are shutting down because of the coronavirus, and Northwest Area is added to the list.

WNEP Web Staff Published: 5:23 AM EDT October 19, 2020 Updated: 5:23 AM EDT October 19, 2020

LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Schools in the Northwest Area School District are closed, and it will stay that way for a while. The district says a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. As a precaution, schools are closed. Students will shift to distance learning instead. All sports at Northwest in the Shickshinny area are canceled.

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/northwest-area-going-virtual-after-positive-covid-19-case/523-80ccfc20-7f0d-4f03-ae00-409d94ed5f22

 

Meyersdale Area School District going virtual Monday after positive COVID case

WJACTV by Crispin Havener Sunday, October 18th 2020

MEYERSDALE, Pa. (WJAC) — Meyersdale Area School District officials announced Sunday night that students will not report to school Monday after a student tested positive for COVID-19. According to a post on the district's Facebook page, the case involved a high school student and they are in the process of contact tracing so anyone within 6 feet of the student for greater than 15 minutes has been contacted to quarantine for the required 14 days. "Based on our findings, we feel it is in the best interests of our student body, faculty & staff to have a virtual instruction day (Monday)," the statement said, adding buses will not run and there will be no extracurricular activities Monday.

https://wjactv.com/news/local/meyersdale-area-school-district-going-virtual-monday-after-positive-covid-case

 

COVID cases force the private Philadelphia School to switch to remote learning

WHYY By Darryl C. Murphy October 16, 2020

The Philadelphia School, a private pre-K to eighth grade school in Center City, will switch to remote learning next week after eight cases of COVID-19 there were confirmed. “TPS’ priority remains the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and their families,” Melissa Grimm, a spokesperson for the school, said in a statement issued Friday. “This period of remote learning will allow time for contact tracing, potentially affected individuals to be tested and quarantined as needed, and the school to review safety protocols so in-person learning can resume.“

https://whyy.org/articles/covid-cases-force-the-private-philadelphia-school-to-switch-to-remote-learning/

 

West York School District reports positive case of Covid-19

ABC27 by: WHTM Staff Posted: Oct 16, 2020 / 07:43 PM EDT / Updated: Oct 16, 2020 / 07:43 PM EDT

WEST YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — The West York School District reports Friday that there has been a case of coronavirus that impacts both the high school and middle school. Neither school will close, however. The district also says they are not releasing the person’s name for their privacy.

Anyone who has been in close contact with the coronavirus positive person has been informed and will quarantine under guidelines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

https://www.abc27.com/community/west-york-school-district-reports-positive-case-of-covid-19/

 

Virtual learning could leave lasting bad impression of school for Lehigh Valley kindergarteners

By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING CALL | OCT 16, 2020 AT 9:56 AM

It was only a week into the school year when Jennifer Ortiz’s 5-year-old daughter started pulling on her hair and breaking down in tears.  Isabella’s first year of school at Jackson Elementary in Allentown is nothing like she imagined, her mother said. She is not making friends or playing with them at recess. She is not sitting criss-crossed on a carpet as a cheerful teacher reads the class a story. Instead, Isabella experiences kindergarten through a computer in her family’s east Allentown home. Rather than learning kindergarten rituals like sharing toys and reciting nursery rhymes, she’s mastered how to mute and unmute her computer’s microphone during her virtual class. Every day is a battle to get Isabella to stay in front of her computer from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., Ortiz said. She cries every morning when she’s told she has to log on for school. She developed a nervous habit when she doesn’t understand her work of licking her lips to the point where they’re raw. Ortiz has to sit with her daughter to make sure she listens to her lessons and does her work. That can be difficult when Ortiz’s other daughter, third grader Gianna, also needs help with her virtual lessons. More than once, Isabella has told her mother that she wants to be in a real school with friends, like last year when she had preschool.

https://www.mcall.com/news/education/mc-nws-lehigh-valley-schools-learning-coronavirus-20201016-zfdaag7vzncb5pupmto3wgrmqe-story.html

 

BLAIRSVILLE MIDDLE-HIGH SCHOOL TO GO VIRTUAL THROUGH OCT. 30

Indiana, PA WCCS AM1160 & 101.1FM Oct 18, 2020 9:11 PM

The Blairsville-Saltsburg School District is reporting that Blairsville Middle-High School Cohort A & B – all students – will not report to school beginning Monday, October 19, 2020 through Friday, October 30, 2020. The announcement comes after high school principal Mike Leasure released in a letter that a middle school student had tested positive for Covid-19.

https://www.wccsradio.com/2020/10/18/blairsville-middle-high-school-closes-through-oct-30/

 

Connellsville Area High School student tests positive for COVID-19

BY THE DAILY COUIRER | OCTOBER 17, 2020

A Connellsville Area High School student has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, a post on the district website confirmed. District administrators were informed of the situation 6 p.m. Thursday. The student has not been in the school since Monday, does not utilize district transportation and is isolated based on state Department of Health guidelines, the notice said.

https://www.dailycourier.com/articles/connellsville-area-high-school-student-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

 

Northern Tioga SD employee tests positive for COVID-19

Westfield Free Press Courier Oct 15, 2020

An employee from Clark Wood Elementary School in Elkland tested positive for COVID-19. Diana Barnes shared information about the incident in a Facebook post on the Northern Tioga School District page on Oct. 12. “The employee was home after work on Sept. 30 (with no symptoms) and was injured. The employee returned to work for the morning on Oct. 1 to prepare for the substitute (masked and socially distancing) and left that morning; the employee has been home since the morning of Oct. 1,” said Barnes in the post. After a week, the employee started to show symptoms and was tested. This test resulted positive.

https://www.tiogapublishing.com/free_press_courier/ntsd-employee-tests-positive-for-covid-19/article_06ab25b9-625b-59f4-ac27-d9f669c0012a.html

 

 

What's the connection between reading early and high school dropout rates? Learn with us at the Education First Compact on 11/5.

Philadelphia Education Fund Free Virtual Event Thursday November 5, 2020 9:00 am - 10:30 am

From Pre-K to Fifth Grade: Early Literacy as Dropout Prevention

It’s long been understood that literacy is the gateway to learning. No doubt you’ve heard the maxim: In grades K-3, a student must learn to read, so that in grades 4-12 they can read to learn.

In the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2014 report, “Double Jeopardy,” researchers also found a link between 4th grade reading proficiency and high school completion rates. Astonishingly, they discovered that students with low levels of proficiency were four times as likely to drop out of high school. In Philadelphia, the struggle to improve upon rates of early literacy is a collaborative one. At the center of these local efforts are the School District of Philadelphia, the Children’s Literacy Initiative, and various community partners engaged through Philadelphia’s Read By 4th Campaign. Join us for the November Education First Compact to probe such questions as: What lessons has been learned prior to and during COVID? What adjustments are being made during this period of distance learning? What challenges remain? And, most importantly, what role can the larger Philadelphia community play in the effort?

Panelists:

  • Caryn Henning, Children’s Literacy Initiative
  • Jenny Bogoni, Read By 4th Campaign
  • Nyshawana Francis-Thompson, School District Office of Instruction and Curriculum

Host: Farah Jimenez, President and CEO of Philadelphia Education Fund

Schedule: 9:00 – 9:45am    Presentation
9:45 – 10:15am   Q & A

Attendance is free, but registration is required.

https://philaedfund.org/event/education-first-compact-from-pre-k-to-fifth-grade-early-literacy-as-dropout-prevention/

 

A PHILadelphia Education: An Evening with Bill Marimow and Phil Goldsmith

Monday, October 19 -- 7:00 pm

Join us Monday, October 19 at 7:00pm for a special interactive virtual interview presentation. Bill Marimow, two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient, former Executive Editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former Haverford Township resident will interview Phil Goldsmith about his new book, A PHILadelphia Education: Tales, Trials, and Tribulations of a Serial Careerist.

Goldsmith, current Haverford Township Free Library Board President, has held several prominent public positions including deputy mayor of Philadelphia, chief executive of the School District of Philadelphia and chief operating officer of the City of Philadelphia.

Goldsmith will also interview Marimow about his lengthy career in journalism and the future of journalism, and both will talk about the challenges facing Philadelphia. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to both Marimow and Goldsmith after the interviews.

This program will take place live virtually on the Zoom platform.

To register, click here or email Amy Moskovitz at moskovitz@haverfordlibrary.com and you will be sent the Zoom link for the event.

 

Tell your legislators that school districts need their support

POSTED ON OCTOBER 12, 2020 IN PSBA NEWS

If you missed Advocacy Day, it's not too late to reach out to your legislators and ask for their support for public schools during this challenging school year. Take Action to send a letter to your members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The letter addresses the need to support our schools and help to control our costs so that districts may better serve their students. Among the most important areas of concern are limited liability protections; broad mandate relief; delay in new state graduation requirements delay; the need for broadband expansion; and charter school funding reform. Now, more than ever, it is vital that legislators hear from school districts.

https://www.psba.org/2020/10/tell-your-legislators-that-school-districts-need-their-support/

 

Adopt the resolution against racial inequity!

School boards are asked to adopt this resolution supporting the development of an anti-racist climate. Once adopted, share your resolution with your local community and submit a copy to PSBA. Learn more: http://ow.ly/yJWA50B2R72

 

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

 

301 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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