- In Cincinnati, some of the district’s whipsawed parents speak. (Spectrum News 1, 10/5/20)
- Meanwhile, in suburban Toledo, the support foundation for Perrysburg City Schools is creating a streaming service for the purposes of providing virtual access to school events for now and into the future. “With or without COVID, this would be a good thing to have because it allows us to bring the great things that happen in our buildings to the community and beyond.” Yep. (Toledo Blade, 10/4/20) There is no news yet whether Akron City Schools will change its fully-remote learning plan for next semester. Here’s hoping that whatever form the rest of the school year takes up there, this newly-created after-hours tech help desk service continues. I can imagine numerous scenarios where it could be helpful to students and families “with or without COVID,” as they say in Perrysburg. (Akron Beacon-Journal, 10/5/20)
- It is all Kumbaya in Lorain City Schools these days. Elected school board, CEO Graham and his administration, and the Academic Distress Commission (wait; those are still happening?) are all on board with the giant levy ask on the approaching ballot, with the way the district has conducted itself during these last few months of the pandemic, and the bright rosy future going forward. Amazing how far they’ve come up there. Wonder how the kids are doing? (Morning Journal, 10/3/20)
- There is going to be a new episode of my favorite TV show, “Doctor Who”, aired around the end of December. Luckily, the production team planned ahead and shot it last October, long before anyone had ever heard of SARS-CoV-2. And of course, whatever it’s about, it will have no reference to this current world of ours, even though it’s a time-travel show. I get the same “pre-taped” vibe from this piece which regurgitates the usual post-state-report-card knee-jerking from the education establishment: report cards don’t reflect all we do for students, what if they don’t test well, why not measure happiness instead, jobs around here don’t require a lot of high-falutin’ academics (well, that one is rather novel…and scary), etc. But since this year’s report cards were released without much of that information at all—testing being cancelled due to the rona and everything—it makes the arguments sound even more hollow than usual to me. Or, at least, pre-recorded. (Zanesville Times Recorder, 10/3/20)
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