- From an unlikely source comes this fantastic and very thorough look at families exercising school choice in response to the realities of a pandemic-influenced 2020-2021 school year. It covers resident district, charter (both virtual and bricks-and-mortar), homeschooling, interdistrict open enrollment, independent STEM schools, private schools, and even career tech programs. With zero judgment detected and clear input from parents as to why they were opting for many of these choices, it is an almost-perfect microcosm of Ohio’s school choice landscape. Naturally this is all influenced by that aforementioned pandemic—which is obviously a new sitch. But it is also influenced by the fact that Yellow Springs is a fairly bougie and bucolic suburb. That last bit is not new, which is why the pre-pandemic data on interdistrict open enrollment to and from Yellow Springs Exempted Village Schools provided here was even more of an eye-opener than discussion of parents scrambling for a new educational normal. A very good read. (Yellow Springs News, 8/26/20)
- Speaking of which, while this school district zoning fracas in Northeast Ohio’s leafy suburbs predates the pandemic (by several years, as the chronometer flies), the latest response to a proposed solution seems very 2020 of officials at Orange City Schools. (Cleveland.com 8/27/20)
- On Wednesday, we noted that it was likely a surprise to no one that Ohio’s virtual charter schools were seeing a surge in enrollment. Ditto, I think, for parents turning to existing tutoring services like Kumon to help stave off the Covid slide. Only those who have the scratch to do so, I mean. (13ABC, Toledo, 8/26/20)
- We have been hearing in recent days that Covid cases are going down in several Ohio counties. The cautious optimism engendered by this seems to be leading to some reevaluation of school reopening plans. For example, Hilliard City Schools here in central Ohio is switching on a dime and instituting their hybrid in-person/online plan starting Monday for those families who want it, even after starting the school year fully remotely this week. Vive la flexibilité, I guess. (ThisWeek News, 8/27/20)
- Kettering Local Schools is making changes to its graduation requirements, lowering the number of credits for a diploma from 21.5 to the state minimum of 20. (WDTN-TV, Dayton, 8/25/20)
- The several Catholic and charter schools in Cleveland profiled here are not making changes in their reopening plans, largely because they seem to be offering every possible option simultaneously. They say it is their mission to serve their families in the way that those families prefer. A mindset, they say, which predates the pandemic. (The 74, 8/26/20)
- And speaking of staying the course… Woodridge Local Schools is so enamored of their new online academy (student population: 31), that they plan to stick with it after this whole SARS-CoV-2 thing is over with high hopes of keeping resident students from leaving for those dastardly virtual charter schools forever and ever. (Akron Leader, 8/27/20)
- And we’ll end the week with a tiny (very tiny) dose of pre-rona normalcy and talk about high school football. Specifically, the prospects for this year’s Sciotoville Spartans, that rare goose of a charter school football team. Of course, it’s all normal as the Spartans are currently without an opponent in their week one game slot due to well…you know. (Portsmouth Daily Times, 8/26/20)
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