Atlanta Public Schools Consider Mandatory Summer School Targeting Students Farthest From Coronavirus



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The plan, proposed on Feb. 1 at an Atlanta board meeting, has yet to be decided, but would focus on unfinished learning dating back to March 2020, when schools first closed. times, said Superintendent Lisa Herring.

Students across the country have spent much of the past year learning remotely in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, and many fear the disruption has left them with less experience in education and training. development.

Although some teachers are questioning whether it is not yet possible to return safely, officials in cities across the country are pushing to get students back to the classroom and make up for lost time.

“When we are able to identify students who are not competent and above, and we know that they have interrupted learning and that there have been losses, shouldn’t we be thinking about the need to keep them in front of us so that we can support and accelerate the reduction of this gap? “Said Herring.” And that represents a very specific population. “

This population includes educationally and socio-economically vulnerable students among the 51,000 students in 87 schools and five programs in the district, Herring said. To that end, she said the district doesn’t just watch summer programming, but the entire school year schedule.

“We are looking at the schedule. I think we have to do it,” Herring said. “We started with four weeks where we said, throughout the day, with an emphasis on the quality of teaching, intervention and follow-up, as well as enrichment and well-being.

New Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring speaks after being sworn in at a ceremony at Atlanta Public Schools Headquarters.

Threats of strike action and legal action

A few in-person lessons resumed in Atlanta, while elsewhere in the United States, school districts, their teachers and unions are trying to find the right circumstances for a return to the classroom.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union will vote on a proposed framework for reopening on Wednesday after the union negotiated and threatened to strike against the Chicago Public School System and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who were pushing for a return to teaching in person .

CTU said the teachers wanted to return as well, but not at risk to their health, families and students.

The proposed framework has pre-K students and returning groups on Thursday, with K-5 staff returning on February 22, and their students next week. Grades 6 to 8 staff will return on March 1 and students will return on March 8, Chicago Public Schools CEO Dr. Janice Jackson said.

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In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the state legislature for a $ 6.6 billion package to get students, teachers and staff safely back to classrooms, he said on Monday.

Policymakers have been discussing the plans for several weeks and are on the cusp of finding a resolution that focuses on the youngest and most vulnerable students first and goes through the rest as much as possible.

The package follows the city of San Francisco suing its own school district on Wednesday to get schools to reopen their campuses. An agreement in principle was reached on Sunday to reopen if the city is in the orange level of the state’s reopening criteria, or if it is in the red level and vaccines are made available to teachers.

The district would also provide personal protective equipment for students and staff, socially remote classrooms and workspaces, and regular testing, among other safety protocols.

“This is a major step forward towards a goal we share with so many parents: the safe reopening of school buildings for students and staff,” unions representing workers in the Unified School District said. of San Francisco.

In another initiative, 26 states plus Washington, DC are allowing some or all of their teachers and school staff to receive coronavirus vaccines and therefore must rush in-person classes.

In West Virginia, all teachers over 50 who have said they want the vaccine have already received it, according to Governor Jim Justice. In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine laid out a plan for all teachers to be immunized by the end of February, with the goal of having all students return to class by March 1.

CNN’s Meridith Edwards and Elizabeth Stuart, Cheri Mossburg, Gregory Lemos, Omar Jimenez, Joe Sutton, Gisela Crespo and Yon Pomrenze contributed to this report.



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