Gadfly Bites 4/20/20 – “As well as can be expected.”

1. At the start of week six of school building closures in Ohio, Cincinnati City Schools is here said to be “muddling through” whatever it is they have been doing. (I think the reporter is specifically referring to academics.) While most of the story focuses on the extremely difficult cases of students with special needs, we do learn that televised school lessons launch today in the Queen City. That’s got to be good news. (WCPO-TV, Cincinnati, 4/17/20) In nearby Princeton City Schools, the district has been driving around their former bookmobile as a travelling WiFi hotspot to help students get access to the internet and the schoolwork provided online. Connecting district staffers to special needs students is referenced here as well. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/19/20)
    
2. The effect of mandated distance learning on the progress of special needs students is top-of-mind at the Dayton Daily News also. So much so that they published two separate and very detailed stories yesterday. The first is a personal look from the teacher and parent perspective. (Dayton Daily News, 4/19/20) The second tries to look at five bigger-picture questions using those local perspectives. It should be noted that while the first story includes a Dayton City Schools parent, neither story includes the perspective of the district, as they did not participate in the pieces. Thus, the information comes from smaller suburban districts. It also includes the parent-who-is-also-a-teacher perspective, as you might expect. (Dayton Daily News, 4/19/20)
    
3. The superintendent of Dublin City Schools offered several reasons why his district was going to a pass/incomplete grading model for the final semester of the year. First up: “The National School Boards Association recommends that model.” And some others. A fascinating read….which also includes the parent-who-is-also-a-teacher perspective. (ThisWeek News, 4/17/20)
    
4. Let’s look ahead with positivity to close out the day, shall we? New student registration in Akron City Schools starts today, which means incoming kindergartners, families new to the city, and students “returning to the district” at any grade level. (Got to love that optimism, right?) There’s even an in-person registration option like it’s 2019 or something. Now that’s positivity. (Akron Beacon Journal, 4/17/20) In tiny, high-dollar-real-estate, landlocked Grandview Heights City Schools, they probably don’t get a lot of new kids from year to year. So instead, looking forward to next year for them means a generous donation from the district’s nonprofit support foundation that means free school supplies for all kids next year. Those who have already started buying supplies (in April? Are you serious?!) will get refunds. (ThisWeek News, 4/17/20) Unfortunately, our final piece—a Q&A with the leaders of the Cleveland, Parma, and Shaker Heights school districts about what school will look like whenever it resumes again—is probably not as positive a way to end as we might like. Link (Cleveland.com, 4/20/20)
   

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