- State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria was interviewed by the Plain Dealer this week. He used the term “coronavirus class” to refer to
my kidseveryone in the Class of 2020, and assured them that the school closure—no matter how long it lasted—would be “no threat to graduation” for them. “We will figure out what is right and how we accomplish what is right,” DeMaria told The Plain Dealer. “…[W]e have to rely on the professional judgment of the education community to identify the realities and make valid choices” regarding graduation, he said “knowing that there’s never a bright line or way to insure complete consistency across the entire enterprise of 1.7 million schoolchildren. But we can also be pragmatic. Let’s define what right is and put those actions into place,” he added. “If it’s the right thing to do for a student to be deemed a graduate of the system or to receive a diploma then that’s the thing we ought to do.” Whatever could all that word salad mean? (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/18/20)
- This is a national story that includes some Ohio content. It looks at what may happen if the current temporary school closures turn into “no more school for the rest of the year”. More questions than answers in there, really. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/18/20) While online learning could be a lifeline for students trying to adjust to and survive the sudden and prolonged loss of school, there is widespread concern that it could prove downright harmful for students with special needs and that any mandate for participating in virtual education during the crisis would be ruled illegal. A particularly interesting perspective here from a teacher of special needs students in Cincinnati City Schools whose own son with special needs attends a suburban school. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/19/20) Mindful of the “digital divide” we were discussing on Monday, Staples stores in Cincinnati are donating printing services for school packets and reading materials for any students who might need them. Additionally, a fund has been set up to take in school supplies for at-home learners in the Queen City who might need those. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/19/20)
- While educating children during this crisis is either a neat suggestion or grounds for a possible lawsuit, it is curious to note (to me at least—YMMV) what kinds of things are still moving full steam ahead in schools around the state. Tiny (and shrinking) West Branch Local Schools in Eastern Ohio is continuing its planning for an intricate and controversial (you don’t say?) building consolidation effort. The district needs to save big after losing 500 students in less than 10 years and being unable to pass a levy even during elections that actually happen. (Salem News, 3/20/20) There is, apparently, no stopping Elyria Catholic High School from hiring its new leader either. (Morning Journal, 3/19/20) There is also, as you may have figured long before today, nothing in the world that can stop Dayton City Schools from wantonly borrowing and profligately spending gargantuan sums of money. (Dayton Daily News, 3/19/20)
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