COVID-19 Policy Update #259
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDAY 5/20
TOP THREE
Maine's Approach to 3ft Distancing: Maine CDC will allow schools that participate in COVID-19 pooled testing to drop 3-foot spacing.
The state said 30 percent of a school's population must participate in order to change the three-foot spacing requirement to a "recommendation."
Children's Vaccines:
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky expects COVID-19 vaccine data on younger kids by fall.
Fauci says he expects vaccines for younger children by the end of year or early 2022
How States Are Helping School Districts Maximize Federal K-12 Relief: Via ECS. Some examples:
Illinois: Learning Renewal Resource Guide
Kansas: Navigating Next
Louisiana: Achieve! Priorities-Based Planning Guide for School Systems ESSER II and ESSER III Funding
New Hampshire: Grades K-12 Back-to-School Guidance
Washington: Academic and Student Well-Being Recovery Plan
FEDERAL
NTIA: Opened up the funding window for its $288 million Infrastructure Grant Program for broadband deployment.
FCC: 1 million households have already enrolled in the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Vaccine Boosters: Could be recommended as soon as September according to the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna.
Vaccine Incentives:
NGA released a list of state COVID-19 vaccine incentives
They range from a $1 million lottery in Ohio to a box of Girl Scout cookies in Indiana.
It's indisputable that Thin Mints encourage vaccine takeups. Don't bring those Lemon Ups around here.
"The highest scoring inducements to those on the fence are receiving $100 (18% of the unsure would be more likely in this case), being no longer required to wear a mask in public (18%), or if vaccination were required by an employer (17%)."
"Still, nearly half (42%) of Americans on-the-fence about vaccines responded favorably to at least one of the eight potential incentives."
Your Next Covid-19 Test Could Be a Dog’s Sniff: Really great in-depth WSJ article on the latest research and pilots (with video and photos!)
STATE
Arizona: Technical difficulties make online learning tough in Arizona schools
California: Salinas City Virtual Academy will offer online courses next year.
Florida: District leaders share best practices from a year of reopened schools
Iowa: Joins states forbidding COVID-19 mask mandates in schools
Michigan: Detroit is reopening their schools on May 24.
New Jersey: N.J.’s largest teachers’ union still wants masks in schools
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia plans full in-person learning in the fall; will also offer remote option
RESOURCES
What We Learned From the School Reopening Debate: "A trio of pediatricians argue that the closure of public schools to in-person learning has done long-term damage to a vulnerable population — and it could be a preview of an even larger crisis."
"While children have neither been the primary drivers of Covid spread nor the population at highest risk of illness, they have suffered disproportionately from our cascading and uniquely."
"Children sat in virtual school and watched as everything opened around them, learning how little their needs matter compared to the desires of the grownups running the world."
School 'Recovery' Isn't Enough: Why Our Education System Must Change After COVID: Via Susan Lusi and Rob Jentsch
Addressing Unfinished Learning with Targeted Help and High-dosage Tutoring: Via Fordham
This Is Just So Great: A young woman told her parents they were making a video for extra credit but what they actually read was her first acceptance into optometry school.