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Missouri schools get to decide whether to require masks, shift class sizes

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State Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says many Missouri K-12 public school districts and charter schools have asked their families and workers what their comfort levels are about restarting classes this fall.

“From what we know about these survey results, it seems the majority of our families and educators agree, they want to be back in school learning in person but with extra precautions,” she says.

Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven

Districts will get to decide whether to require students and staff to wear masks when classes resume. During a press conference today, Vandeven says the state is not mandating them to wear masks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

“Circumstances vary across the state –the age of the child certainly makes a distance, the ability to social distance. There’s a lot of factors that go into the mask decision-making,” she says. “So, we have left that to the local level.”

According to Vandeven, class sizes could be smaller at some schools when they start back up in August. The decision will ultimately be up to local districts.

“That’s exactly where our leaders are right now, is trying to think about the best arrangements to make for students and schools. Again, will be left to the local district, we could not make that decision at the state level. Classrooms are different sizes, what’s happening in each of the regional communities is vastly different. But I can assure you, that is a primary topic of discussion for our school leaders,” says Vandeven.

She says the state is encouraging schools to shift away from incentivizing perfect attendance. Since student attendance is used in accountability measures and determining the level of state aid to schools, she says the Missouri Board of Education is waiving attendance figures for the state’s school improvement program, the MSIP accountability metric. She goes on to say the state is also working to address ways to make payments to districts for in-seat learning, online schooling, or a combination of both.

For schools that offer virtual education, Missouri’s lack of broadband internet access will continue to be felt.

“While educational opportunities continued to be provided during the school closures, one in five Missouri students could not take part in those options,” she says.

She says closing schools was necessary in March to help fight COVID-19. But she says there are several “serious consequences” that can come from students not attending school in person.

“We know that schools provide kids much-needed social interaction and development,” says Vandeven. “Many have expressed concern about the adverse effect of behavior and mental health on our children that they may have experienced during the disruption to their normal routine and social emotional growth.”

A task force is working to develop tools to help schools identify gaps in student learning, both academically and in social emotional development. Once identified, Vandeven says targeted supports and interventions can be provided to get students up to speed.

Another adverse effect Vandeven points to is the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline having as much as a 50% decline in calls since schools closed. Many school employees serve as mandated reporters who make those hotline calls.

Since schools closed in mid-March, they have continued to fill the stomachs of hungry kids. Teachers, administrators and others have served more than 19 million meals Missouri students.

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Missouri works to avoid K-12 funding decline from coronavirus inflicted attendance drop

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Some health experts predict a spike in coronavirus cases this fall – putting Missouri K-12 public schools in a potential funding dilemma. Missouri’s foundation formula – the system used to determine how much state aid to give to schools – is based on a combination of components, including student attendance figures and academic achievement.

Missouri works to avoid K-12 funding decline from coronavirus inflicted attendance drop

During Tuesday’s Missouri Board of Education meeting, members discussed how to avoid a drop in school funding as a result of possible coronavirus related attendance problems. President Charlie Shields, a former Missouri Senate president, thinks the state Legislature could be called back in September for a special session.

“So, should we ask the governor to put a couple things in play? One would be to figure out the attendance piece. We’ve got different scenarios for snow days and all kinds of other things, but nobody had one for COVID-19,” he says. “It would give us the flexibility to do something on attendance in terms of the formula. The other would be this issue if you withhold across the board, including hold harmless, during the emergency, that you don’t have to make that up somewhere throughout the rest of the fiscal year. Do we ask the governor to put that in his call for a special session to clarify those issues for us?”

The General Assembly returns each September to weigh whether to attempt an override of any vetoes the governor makes to bills passed during the regular session. A special session directly before or after a veto session is an efficient way to handle issues that some elected officials and stakeholders feel are urgent.

Deputy Commissioner Roger Dorson says state funding is given to schools on an annual basis. He indicates if the economy rebounds in a few months, then a potential legislative fix should take that scenario into consideration.

Commissioner Margie Vandeven says the health of students comes first – not perfect attendance.

“We will be asking parents to keep their children home if they are ill,” says Vandeven. “And we will be asking parents to keep their children home for symptoms that they may not have ever kept them home for in the past. So we expect to see a significant decline in attendance data, at the request of health officials and of school officials to say ‘Keep your children home.’ That’s one thing. The other thing we have never encountered before is, let’s suspect you have to quarantine an entire class, or an entire bus – just be thinking in terms of this could be 14 days. So, the way we’re trying to think about how to get this attendance waiver or whatever we need is to say ‘Should children stay home if they’re ill – yes. Should we stop talking about perfect attendance as the banner award for this year – yes.’”

Vandeven says the state must also figure out how to ensure that students can continue learning from home if they are quarantined.

Meanwhile, a new state statute requires Missouri K-12 public school districts to start 14 days prior to Labor Day or later, unless the state Board of Education waives the regulation. Some school districts have expressed an interest in starting the school calendar year earlier in the fall to beat an anticipated climb in coronavirus cases.

The board has given the education commissioner temporary power to let districts start earlier in August if they make the request and meet certain requirements. Local school boards must first hold a public hearing and explain how an exemption would benefit the students and reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The following districts have asked to start earlier in August:

• East Newton Co. R-VI
• Lutie R-VI
• Weaubleau R-III
• Community R-VI
• Joplin Schools
• Hickory Co. R-I
• Tri-County R-VII
• Carthage R-IX

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is reviewing the requests.

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Missouri K-12 districts can request to start school year earlier this fall

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A new state statute requires Missouri K-12 districts to start 14 days prior to Labor Day or later, unless the state Board of Education waives the regulation. Today, the board voted to give the State Education Commissioner temporary authority to decide whether districts can start the school year earlier this fall. Under today’s action, schools interested in starting earlier must first get input by holding a public hearing at the very least and explain how an exemption would benefit the students and reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Missouri K-12 districts can request to start school year earlier this fall

Some models show an uptick in coronavirus cases is projected in the fall – possibly affecting learning for kids. During today’s board meeting, President Charlie Shields, who runs Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, says schools play a big role in the community rates of the coronavirus infection.

“Our infectious disease people – they would tell you that while children are not particularly susceptible to COVID-19, although the science is changing on that rapidly, they are very good at transmission,” says Shields.

Member Mary Schrag of southern Missouri’s West Plains says she’s been asked whether schools are liable if they start earlier and an outbreak happens.

“I really like the idea of the public hearing because I think it allows people the option to be involved in the conversation,” she says. “And then it also, I hope, prevents people from immediately going ‘Well they started too soon. Are they liable?’”

Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says one comment received about letting schools start earlier is the impact it could have on tourism revenue. The new state statute emerged from tourism and the Missouri State Fair being affected by kids going back to school earlier. But, Vandeven says options would be good for schools.

“But all the research and everything on the national circuit of what they’re talking about how to minimize this what they’re calling COVID loss, instead of learning loss, is to really grant schools flexibility to find the right time to re-enter. Summer school would allow for optional summer schools to be taking place in August already,” says Vandeven. “So, I think some are considering looking at summer school, but there are many who are saying ‘We need to get our teachers and our students and everybody back in place in early August.’”

Speaking of summer school, the board also voted today to give the commissioner the ability to lift a state regulation this year requiring summer school to last a minimum of 120 hours. If a school makes a request to waive the requirement, it would have to demonstrate why doing so is in the best interest of the students.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is reviewing ways to narrow the digital divide among students. The COVID-19 outbreak led to Missouri’s K-12 schools shuttering their doors in mid-March and coming up with a way to reach students in a matter of days. The pandemic has shined a light on the internet connectivity gap felt by Missouri students and shows that the problem stretches through rural and urban Missouri.

Some Missouri kids are learning the old school way through packets of educational materials because they don’t have access to broadband internet. That takes a Zoom class session out of the picture for some students and so is downloading school work or having coursework emailed.

Perry County School District in southeast Missouri took the bull by the horns during the coronavirus closure. It teamed up with area organizations to deploy school buses equipped with internet hotspots to designated locations in the county. Parents and students can drive up and access the internet to get learning materials needed.

A survey the department has conducted is helping to shape the way the state tries to narrow the gap. It shows the problem runs deeper than lack of service available.

The survey provided to the board shows one in five Missouri students – about 200,000 – do not have broadband internet access and cannot learn online. The survey, with responses from the state’s 555 school districts and charter schools, says affordability of internet service and devices is the main problem.

“That’s too many. One in five. We have to work together because who’s going to tolerate one in five kids,” asks Vandeven.

To view the survey, click here.

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Missouri K-12 schools to remain closed but learning continues rest of academic year

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Gov. Mike Parson has ordered that all of Missouri’s 555 public and charter schools remain closed through the rest of the academic year. The decision is in response to the coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 77 people and infected more than 3,500 others in Missouri.

Missouri K-12 schools to remain closed but learning continues rest of academic year

In mid-March, Parson left it up to local districts to decide whether to call off classes. Schools have been closed ever since.

Kids won’t get off the hook that easily. During today’s COVID-19 briefing, Missouri K-12 Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says remote learning will continue through the end of the school calendar year.

“School buildings will remain closed for the rest of the school year, but school continues,” she says.

Student meals will also continue through the academic year. Some districts are delivering meals to students and others are doing a “grab-n-go” concept.

“We know maybe now more than ever just how important our public schools are, how critical the services are that they provide their local communities and how important the work is that our educators do each day for our children,” says Vandeven.

During this unprecedented time, some parents have been brushing up on their education from earlier years by taking on the role of homeschooling and doing a little bonding with their kids at the same time. Some might have had to quit their jobs due to lack of childcare while their kids have been home. Others have had to juggle paid jobs, kids at home and helping with homework. Vandeven says the recommendation she made to the governor is not one that she made lightly.

She encourages school leaders to continue being creative and innovative in reaching students.

“We see some schools mailing or delivering to the front doorsteps packages to students who may not have access to technology or the internet,” says Vandeven. “While other teachers and students are learning to navigate video conferencing software to deliver and receive instruction, we cannot applaud these educators enough as well as our families at home for stepping up to the plate to make learning a possibility amid this new normal.”

In a statement from Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, she says she agrees with the decision.

“Even though traditional classes will not resume this school year, education of our students will continue for the remainder of the year. The buildings may be closed, but quality education continues,” says Randol. “The Governor’s closure of schools is a necessary step to protect the health and safety of our students, teachers, staff and communities. In spite of the unprecedented challenges of the remote learning environment, our innovative educators throughout the state prioritize the needs of our children and continue to offer quality instructional opportunities.”

Vandeven says the department is working quickly to address district questions about summer school, graduation, internet broadband problems, among others.

Gov. Parson says Missouri’s high school seniors have worked hard for twelve years and the state will figure out a way for them to still walk down the graduation aisle at some point.

Missouri says no standardized tests, makeup days this school year due to COVID-19 problems

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Many of Missouri’s K-12 public school students will be thrilled. They don’t have to take statewide tests this school year and they don’t have to make up missed school days because of problems created by the coronavirus.

Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven

“There is a time and a place for statewide required assessments and now is not the time,” State Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says on Twitter. “Rest assured, that we are taking this issue off of your plates so that you can serve the needs of our children.”

All Missouri public and charter schools have closed indefinitely, but some are teaching students remotely for the time being – a big adjustment in itself for many. Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, let school districts make the call on whether to continue holding classes, instead of ordering them to close.

According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, missed calendar hours will not impact the calculation of average daily attendance. State funding to schools is usually figured through a formula that includes academic performance and attendance.

The department says districts and charters should make attendance decisions based on the safety and well-being of their students and staff, without concern that the low attendance numbers will negatively impact payment. Further guidance regarding school finance issues will be included in a separate memo from the Division of Financial and Administrative services early next week.

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