20 quotes from Oklahoma educators on going back to school during a pandemic
Oklahoma educators are sounding off about returning to the classroom this fall as the state board of education has offered no mandates, only suggestions, for districts to stay safe during the pandemic. #oklaed
Related story: Tulsa Public Schools will start with 100% distance learning if board approves recommendation next week'
Is it worth it?': Area teachers worry about returning to classrooms during height of pandemic uncertainty
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Source: Oklahoma Edvocates Facebook group
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Related story: Is it worth it?': Area teachers worry about returning to classrooms during height of pandemic uncertainty
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Related story: Tulsa Public Schools will start with 100% distance learning if board approves recommendation next week'
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Related story: Suburbs encouraging but not mandating mask-wearing amid COVID-19 spike
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HIDE VERTICAL GALLERY ASSET TITLES
The district would return to a remote instruction format for the first nine weeks of the fall semester. Unlike in the spring, however, students would be graded for their work and attendance would be counted.
Bixby schools will have half of students in school at a time during first weeks of fall semester
The three-week plan will split the student body into two groups. Each half will take a one-week turn at instruction, with the first four days of the week at school and Friday in remote learning, and everyone will spend the third week in a virtual classroom to provide a built-in quarantine time.
The district's board on Wednesday voted to approve a plan requiring employees and students in third grade and higher to wear masks. Those uncomfortable with the plan may sign up for the virtual academy until Aug. 5.
Related: 20 quotes from Oklahoma educators on going back to school during a pandemic
In addition, teachers are expected to be tested on a monthly basis.
He said he has directed the State Health Department to work the the Department of Education to come up with a plan by Aug. 21 to test teachers on a monthly basis.
Districts have the opportunity to purchase additional hotspots for students not considered low income and for teachers and staff at the same cost and rate secured by #oklaed for the grant.
The first day of school for kindergarten through 12th grade will be Sept. 3, with pre-K starting Sept. 8.
Adam and Michelle Palmer said they felt a moral obligation to share Jeff Bennett's response with other parents.
When he used $10 million in federal COVID-19 aid to underwrite private school tuition, Gov. Kevin Stitt said it was meant to make sure poor children could continue to take advantage of opportunities, the editorial says. Now it came out that some of the poor families who make get the governor's aid could be earning more than $100,000 a year. Not all poor children are created equally, it appears.
The data, showing 18,880 students in the state’s five virtual charter schools last year and 33,393 in the six such schools that now operate in Oklahoma, will be presented to the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board at its monthly meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
Screenings were offered for employees last week, allowing time for those who tested positive to isolate and get healthy before school starts, a district spokesman said.
Related: COVID-19: State reports 13 additional deaths, 765 new cases
Laura Grisham, who was surprised Friday at Monroe by district leaders, will now be a candidate for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.
The reentry plan involves dividing the student body into two groups. Each group will take a one-week turn at instruction, with the first four days of the week at school and Friday in remote learning. Everyone will spend the third week in a virtual classroom to provide a built-in quarantine time.
Her principal says Marilyn Ezell is the “joy factor” that families and students see when they enter the school building each day.
One superintendent says 20 of 26 faculty and staff are sidelined due to an outbreak in the two days leading up to class: "I'm expecting that it will be incredibly difficult to hire a substitute. ... I mean, who's going to sign up for that?"
Of 136 #oklaed districts surveyed, only six opted for distance learning. Roughly a third require face coverings. Some districts mandate them in hallways and on buses but not in classrooms.
Democratic lawmakers have implored the Oklahoma State Board of Education to mandate COVID-19 precautions in schools.
The broad range, from encouraging traditional in-person schooling to offering only virtual classes for at least the start of the year, showcases the confusion and the tough decisions officials and parents are making.
Administrators say they are pivoting from distance learning to in-person learning on Sept. 10 due to a decline in COVID-19 cases in Tulsa County.
One survey found that 1 in 4 teachers across the U.S. have health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19. It made Norman teacher Anne Ham cut her 35-year career short.