Category Archives: Coronavirus

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Waiver Request

Williamson County School Board member Eric Welch took to Facebook to announce the district is asking Gov. Bill Lee to waive TNReady testing requirements as well the 180 day attendance and 6.5 hour instructional day mandates.

Here’s the post:

Superintendent Golden has submitted a letter to Governor Bill Lee formally requesting waivers of certain statutory requirements for the 2020-21 school year.

Williamson County Schools is urging Gov. Lee to ensure that the district, schools, teachers and students are held harmless from testing requirements and accountability measures and to waive TCAP tests, Including but not limited to TNReady assessments, English learner assessments, alternate TCAP assessments, and EOC exams.

WCS requests a waiver of the 180 days of classroom instruction requirement. We recognize many students may need to be absent due to quarantine or illness, and we may find it to be in the best interest of the students and families to shorten the school year.

WCS also requests a waiver of the 6.5 hours instructional time each academic day. WCS can continue to provide rigorous education while teaching scope & sequence without requiring teachers and students meet in a remote setting for 6.5 hours each academic day.

WCS Parents, other Williamson County residents and Tennesseans across our great state that have an opinion on this matter and wish to share it with Governor Lee may do so through his office at:
https://www.tn.gov/governor/contact-us.html

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Almost Inevitable

That’s how Tennessee’s Commissioner of Health describes the likelihood of COVID-19 infections in Tennessee’s schools as districts across the state prepare to resume classes in a few weeks.

Fox 17 in Nashville has more:

Like many Tennessee parents, Dr. Piercey works hours away from her home. She believes it’s “almost inevitable” that COVID-19 will creep into schools, so this school year is about predictability for her.

“I want them to prioritize in classroom instruction,” Dr. Piercey said. “Another thing that’s important to me is I want there to be in my children’s school and in every school, a systematic methodology of what to do when things happen. Let me guarantee you, things are going to happen. There are going to be infections in the school, whether it’s students or staff or both. It’s almost inevitable.” 

MORE> https://fox17.com/news/local/tennessee-health-commissioner-its-almost-inevitable-covid-19-will-infect-schools?fbclid=IwAR1CsnPYPXGYNYP2q-A9SI6iWEWCAK44PI8gklpnm4UQQVMeg2pd-N6m_7c

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Disclaimer

At least one Tennessee school district is asking parents to sign a waiver of liability for any issues arising from COVID-19. Here’s that document:

UPDATE: In a tweet, Dr. Tim Parrott, Anderson County Director of Schools, says the disclaimer is ONLY for athletic participation in the summer while school is not in session.

PARROTT:

Not everything on social media is the truth. The waiver you have referenced was only for ATHLETICS during the time that schools are not in session in the summer. It has never been part of the plan to have any student or staff member sign the waiver to attend school.

What is your district doing? Have you been asked to sign a waiver? Let me know at andy@tnedreport.com.

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Education Coalition Calls for Mask Mandate

The Knox County Education Coalition released recommendations for returning to school amid COVID-19 and they include a requirement that students and staff wear face coverings while inside school buildings and on buses. Here’s more from WVLT:

The Knox County Education Coalition released an open letter on reopening recommendations for Knox County Schools Tuesday afternoon.

The open letter was addressed to the Superintendent, Knox County School Board, County and City Mayors and the Health Department.

The recommendations from the Education Coalition stated all students, teachers and staff should wear face coverings or masks on buses and inside buildings.

Knox County Schools will release its reopening plan on Wednesday.

MORE: https://www.wvlt.tv/2020/07/14/education-coalition-recommends-all-students-and-staff-wear-face-coverings/?fbclid=IwAR0E0FV_wmZnYDOzFfUinzH8R7vDVCRABDfMMLEGvsJpHRma36eoNzsHcF4

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Can You Waive COVID-19?

Apparently, some teachers are concerned that school districts may ask them to sign waivers releasing the district of liability for COVID-19-related illness. The Tennessee Education Association has some advice should that happen:

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Educators and Coronavirus/Liability Waivers
My district is asking all employees to sign a waiver releasing it from liability related to the current pandemic. I do not want to sign the waiver, but I cannot afford to lose my job, nor do I want to lose my rights. What should I do?
Ideally, members should not sign any sort of waiver of their legal or contractual rights that they do not fully understand and voluntarily agree to without first speaking to their UniServ coordinator or local association leadership for guidance. If necessary, local leadership or UniServ will involve TEA Legal so members can be advised of their rights with respect to signing the waiver before being required to do so.
In the event a directive to sign a liability waiver does not afford an opportunity to have the content of the waiver reviewed by the Association prior to signing, members facing the real or perceived threat of reprisal should consider signing the waiver with a handwritten statement including the following concepts adjacent to their signature:
1) The signature appears as the result of the directive and is not voluntary; or
2) The signature does not constitute consent to the terms of the waiver, nor should it suggest the full extent of the waiver was understood at the time the signature was made.
If an educator is required to sign a waiver and is not provided a copy of the signed waiver, educators should follow up with their administrator via email and ask for a copy.

Here is a waiver from a Florida school district:

If you’ve been asked to sign a waiver and have a copy, please email: andy@tnedreport.com

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The Forever School Year

Apparently, that’s what’s being considered in Shelby County.

WMC-5 has more:

According to a letter sent by Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Joris Ray to SCS teachers, the district is considering adding 15 days to the upcoming school year to make up for time lost when schools shut down early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights of the plan being considered include:

Fall break changing to a four-day weekend instead of a full week

Thanksgiving break starting Wednesday instead of the full week

The school year ending June 7 for students, nine days later than scheduled

SCS estimates the cost for the plan could be between $25 million to $30 million

MORE>

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This

Peter Greene explains pretty much everything you need to know about public education in this post about returning to school amid COVID-19:

Finally, we know that based on everything we think we know right now, the price tag for safely opening schools again is huge. Lots of folks are trying to run numbers, and everyone agrees that the figure will be in the billions—many of them. And simply throwing up our hands and going back to some version of distance learning is, we already know, not much of an option—unless we pour a bunch of money into getting it right.

Teachers know, in their guts, where this is headed. They have seen versions of this movie before. For instance, in 1975 Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which promised every student with disabilities a free appropriate public education. Knowing that meant extra expenses for school districts, Congress promised funding to back IDEA. They have never, in 45 years, honored that promise, and schools have just had to find their own way to meet that unfunded mandate.

We’re having a national conversation about controlling the spread of coronavirus in classrooms where teachers still have to buy their own tissues and hand sanitizer.

THAT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And, well, this:

It would be great—absolutely great—if elected officials responded to the current situation by saying, “There is nothing more important than our children’s education, so we are going to do whatever it takes, spend whatever is necessary, to make sure that every single schools has every single resource it could possibly need to make its students and staff safe and secure and able to concentrate on the critical work of educating tomorrow’s citizens. We will spare no expense, even if we have to cut other spending, raise taxes on some folks, or spend more money that we don’t actually have.”

Nobody who has been in education longer than a half an hour expects that to happen.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Your support – $5 or more — makes reporting education news possible.

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COVID’s Impact on School Budgets

It’s being felt in Knox County, as the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports:

Knox County Schools’ budget is expected to be down by $4.4 million for next school year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Around a third of the school district’s budget comes from sales tax revenue, which has dropped significantly because of COVID-19, said Ron McPherson, assistant superintendent and chief financial officer. In total, the district had to cut about $10 million in order to balance the budget, he said.

The projected budget for the 2021 fiscal year is $503.8 million, down from $506.7 million for the 2020 fiscal year, Superintendent Bob Thomas announced last week at a virtual community budget meeting. The school board will vote on the proposed budget on Wednesday.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Your support – $5 or more — makes publishing education news possible.

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Coming Up: COVID-19 School Budget Cuts

Wilson County education advocate Kristi Dunn reports on a proposed budget for Wilson County Schools that includes some pretty steep cuts. Here’s her summary:

Yesterday was a work session for the Wilson County BOE ti discuss the upcoming budget. It was ugly and disappointing to the day the least. Our economy has taken a hit due to decrease in sales tax revenue, construction, tourism and property taxes. We have a $10.5 million deficit in the education budget to make up. The solution being proposed is to cut 41 high school teaching positions, 95 EAs, buy no textbooks, cut our Adult High School program which helps at least 145-150 students get their diploma a year, cut adult basic education program, cut all coaching stipend, mentoring stipends, all stipends for any band director, etc, no early retirement incentives.

The proposal comes just ahead of the return of the Tennessee General Assembly in June. At that time, legislators may decide to reinvest money previously allocated for Gov. Bill Lee’s now dead voucher scheme.

Additionally, a new report from Education Week indicates that districts across the country will face significant cuts due to the economic impact of COVID-19.

Almost half of the nation’s 13,000 school districts may be forced to make the deepest cuts to education spending in a generation—slashing programs and laying off hundreds of thousands of administrators, teachers and other staff—to fend off financial collapse brought on by the coronavirus.

“What’s so stunning about this recession is that poor districts are going to bear the brunt of these cuts because they rely so heavily on state aid and they don’t have the capacity to raise their property taxes,” said David Sciarra, the executive director of the Education Law Center, a law firm and advocacy organization which has sued states for having inequitable funding systems.

It will be interesting to see how lawmakers handle school funding in the mini-session and going forward.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Your support — $5 or more — makes publishing education news possible.