Schools Digging in on Covid Policies and Spending Your Tax Dollars

Join us today as we discuss ALL the ways that schools across the country are spending your tax dollars under the premise of Covid safety policies.

PODCAST AT NOON PACIFIC / 3PM EASTERN

Like we do every Monday we provide you with a digest from our friends at Burbio around school closures, masking and spending.

This week we look at districts' increasingly finely-tuned Covid mitigation strategies, annual reporting on progress and priorities, enhanced summer programs among big districts, and ESSER III spending plans in the area of arts and extracurriculars. 

Burbio's ESSER III plan dataset is now up to over 4,700 districts covering 72% of U.S. K-12 students and over $81 billion in school spending.  

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1. With Covid 19 cases continuing to rise in certain parts of the country we note short-term adjustments to mitigation and mask strategies:

• In Pennsylvania, Cheltenham School District reported, "Today, the CDC moved Montgomery County into the 'high' community level  . . .per the recommendation of the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, masks are required indoors and on public transportation  . . beginning May 20th."  Lower Merion School District  announced a mask requirement on Thursday, May 19th and then changed it to strongly recommended on Friday.   Philadelphia Public Schools announced a mask mandate starting May 23rd. 

• In New Jersey Franklin Township Public Schools reinstated a mask mandate for students and staff on May 23rd.  East Orange School District also will mandate masks May 23rd, after having eliminated the mandate on May 9th.  Hillsborough Township requires close contacts to wear masks.  

• Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD adopted revised guidelines calling for masking and testing recommendations at schools with over five percent Covid 19 positivity. "We need the help of our families, " reads the note. "Our school-based teams cannot and will not function as mask enforcers or test checkers. Their focus must remain on delivery of instruction to our students. . . . The COVID pandemic has not been easy for anyone. We are about two dozen school days from making it to the end of this school year. I implore you to help us get there."

• Hartford Public Schools, CT is "strongly recommending" mask-wearing indoors, and notes masks "may be required for specific cohorts in the event of a significant number of positive cases within that cohort.  . . . "

• In Duluth Public Schools, MN, where the Superintendent recently reported getting Covid 19 a second time, the district will now require staff but not students to mask indoors. 

• Oak Park Elementary School District 97, IL voted to require masks on buses and on field trips and afterschool events that occur indoors.  Evanston Township High School District 202, IL announced a mask mandate beginning May 16th and then moved back to masks being "highly recommended" later in the week. 

• On May 18th Waverly Community Schools, MI announced they would be requiring masks as of May 23rd even as the announcement reads  "although I urge you to have your child begin wearing a mask ASAP," noting 17.6% and 24.3% positivity rates in local counties. East Lansing, MI and Ferndale Public Schools, MI also returned mask mandates. 

2.  Many districts around the country issue reports early in the calendar year summarizing district strategies, priorities, challenges and progress.  This week we highlight plans from five different states that take different approaches:  

• Pharr San Juan Alamo ISD, TX provides a 30 page overview covering staff, teaching and learning, student support, "District & School Climate," and outlook for next year, while also highlighting a visit from the U.S. Secretary of Education.  

• Westbrook School Department, ME produces "The State of the Schools," which reviews enrollment trends, demographics, and curriculum, and features dozens of charts breaking down everything from graduation rates, test scores, truancy, homelessness, athletics and more. 

• Norwalk, CT issues a 'State of the Schools' report that frames the update through the lens of the district's strategic priorities ("Future Readiness, Equity, Excellence, Engagement, High Quality Instruction & Support"), and the district's ten core values, plus gives an overview of recent milestones. 

• Needham Public Schools MA's "Performance Report" measures the district's performance against their four district priorities while also providing a detailed chart comparing the district to other Massachusetts districts in the areas of tax burden, staff salaries, and student test scores.

• Ferndale Public Schools, MI presents their state of the district as a mixtape, a series of short videos featuring classroom scenes and staff updates on school accomplishments and activities. 

3.  This week Burbio did a sweep of summer school programs at the largest districts.  For 156 of the top 200 we were able to identify the full selection of offerings.  In addition to standard remediation/credit recovery summer offerings, below are the percentage of districts offering additional content: 

4.  In widely reported news, the Department of Education extended deadlines for ESSER III spending, with this analysis from FutureEd and these pieces from Education Week and Chalkbeat giving good overviews.    In previous blog posts we have highlighted ESSER III spending examples from categories such as HVAC & air quality, tutoring, and professional development, among many others.  This week we look at programs designed to enhance students' experience through the arts, extracurriculars, and field trips: 

• Tallassee City Schools, AL ($2.6MM) will establish a media arts program at the high school that will allow students to "utilize technology for sound recording incorporation with visual images, art creation, reporting, video projects, and TV programing."   The district will also establish an art class at the Middle School: "Students from all economic and cultural backgrounds can be diverse and find their place in an art classroom because it is a universal language for everyone.  It has been shown that art increases critical thinking and problem-solving skills in children," notes the report.  

• Shasta Union High School District, CA ($6.2MM) is planning on spending $10,000 to "Increase the number of intramural activities at lunch on comprehensive sites to improve campus climate."

• Windham Public Schools, CT  ($13.7MM) will be spending $20,000 a year for two years for local field trips for the "Windham Goes to College" program, as well as local business and community opportunities.

• Community Unit School District 200, IL  ($9.1MM) will be spending just over $250,000 each of the next three years for stipends, transportation and supervision related to expanding clubs and activities for students. 

• Gadsen Independent School District, NM ($67MM) will be spending $400,000 on art and music classrooms, purchase a mobile food truck to supplement the Hospitality and Tourism Pathway at the high school and for use at extracurricular events, add baseball and softball pitching machines at the middle school for extracurricular activities, and add new bleachers for the football field. 

• Randolph Central School Corporation, IN ($3MM) will spend $30,000 on Esports, as well over $300,000 for "Outdoor Learning Lab - Barn" and "Outdoor Learning Lab-Greenhouse." 

• Marlboro County School District, SC ($19.8MM) will be hiring five full-time music and dance artists-in-residence across the district.  "Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking and verbal skills. . ..  Opportunities for students in rural areas such as Marlboro County are often limited due to lack of access to quality programs or instructors," reads the plan. 

• Solanco School District, PA ($14MM) and Chariho Regional School District, RI ($2.6MM) will both be contracting with therapy dogs for work with students with social and emotional needs. 

• Belton 124 School District, MO ($5.4MM) will be adding drones, culinary, coding and e-sports to summer school to better engage students. 

• Collier County Public Schools, FL ($80MM) has budgeted for over 2,000 theatre tickets for field trips to be taken by middle and high school students.