Masks will once again be required in Philadelphia's schools as other large districts are also seeing an increase in COVID cases. Still, K-12 leaders elsewhere are dropping their mask mandates.
The Biden Administration—calling teacher shortages one of education's most "critical challenges"—is urging district leaders, higher education and states to collaborate to move more student-teachers into classrooms to speed K-12's recovery from the pandemic.
COVID infections were steeply lower in the 316 classrooms that had mechanical ventilation systems, with the reduction in cases more marked according to the strength of the systems.
More engaging summer school programs and the return of field trips were two key initiatives that emerged as Bibb County Schools decided how to spend the latest round of COVID relief funds.
School districts are sticking with more lenient grading techniques–not because of the pandemic, but often because of what it revealed about how students are penalized for hardships like a lack of support at home, work obligations or poor internet access.
Statewide, the poll showed that a significant number of Latino and Black parents — populations that have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic — did not feel their children were safe from COVID-19 at schools.
Parents and guardians will only receive a close contact letter if schools determine "that the virus is being transmitted from person to person in a classroom, grade level or building."
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services no longer recommends contact tracing or quarantines for students who test negative, even if they've been exposed to a positive COVID case.
