This update on the COVID Slide collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. It’s an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success’ COVID Slide Quick Sheet newsletter, which you can
.
Several of the executive orders signed by President Joe Biden during his first days in office were meant to help launch the administration’s plan to reopen most of the nation’s schools in 100 days, a feat that will be heavily dependent on the success of ramped up vaccinations efforts.
Majority of HCPS students will return to part-time in-person learning Feb. 1
Hendersonville Times-News
Henderson County Public Schools pre-K through third-grade students will return to school in-person full-time, known as Plan A, on Feb. 1 and grades 4-12 will still attend remotely part-time, known as Plan B.
The changes were Superintendent John Bryant s recommendation to the School Board during a meeting held Monday.
The board voted 6-1 with member Stacey Caskey casting a no vote for plan A for pre-K through third grade and plan B for sixth through 12th grades. Fourth- and fifth-graders returning under plan B was unanimously approved.
The board agreed that fourth- and fifth-grade special education students - those who are under Individualized Education Plans - also need to start in-person learning again as soon as possible. Some of them will come back under plan B on Feb. 1.
SPEDWatch, Inc., a special education advocacy group, has filed a complaint with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education alleging that Wareham Schools used illegal language on forms related to Individualized Education Plans which guarantee accommodations for students who need them.
SPEDWatch’s complaint included a redacted copy of a student’s N1 form which includes the line “The Parent agrees to excuse the District from strict performance of IEP timelines which are challenging pursuant to governmental directives arising from or related COVID-19 pandemic issues.”
The complaint goes on to explain that per the state’s guidance, districts must use a “student-centered approach to timelines instead of a district-wide approach.” The state later said that districts must “continue to treat timelines as if they are in effect and make efforts to meet them” including “attempting to agree with parents on extending any deadlines.”
The U.S. Department of Educationâs Office of Civil Rights is investigating the Indiana Department of Education over what it called, in a letter sent Tuesday to Education Secretary Katie Jenner, âdisturbing reportsâ that the state denied students with disabilities equal access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under federal law, schools are required to provide a âfree appropriate public educationâ to each qualified student with a disability.
In its letter, OCR said it was concerned that Indiana had failed to do so and was âparticularly troubledâ by reports that parents of disabled students in Indiana schools have filed multiple complaints with IDOE alleging that students were forced by local school districts into âone size fits allâ remote learning programs, instead of individualized programs designed to meet the need laid out in their Individualized Education Plans or 504 Plans. Qualifying students with disabilities are guarante