2/11/21

New from EdNC

The Editor’s Notes

From EdNC’s Alex Granados:

Gov. Roy Cooper announced yesterday that teachers will be at the front of the line when the state opens up vaccinations for Group 3. Currently, health care workers and people over the age of 65 are eligible to get the vaccine in North Carolina. Starting Feb. 24, pre-K-12 teachers, child care workers, administrators, and other support staff at public and private schools can start getting the vaccine.

Cooper also signed into law yesterday a bill that extends the deadlines for parents to apply for $335 in federal COVID-19 relief funding. Roughly $62 million remains in the pot of funds available for the checks, and those who were not able to apply by the December deadline now have until May. The bill also includes about $1.6 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated by the federal government, which will be distributed to school districts through the state Department of Public Instruction.

A bill that would require schools around the state to open for in-person learning passed two House committees yesterday and will be heard by the full House today. It passed the full Senate earlier this week. The bill would make schools open under plan A (all students in-person with minimal social distancing) for exceptional needs students, and plan A or plan B (a hybrid remote and in-person model) for all other students. Any family that wants their student to be in remote learning will have that option, but no school will be able to offer remote-learning only to students.

Need to know

• Will There Be Standardized Tests This Year? 8 Questions Answered

  Education Week | February 9, 2021

• School Superintendent Viewpoint: Why we should teach hard truths to our kids

  Triangle Business Journal | February 9, 2021

• Jill Biden pushes free access to community college, training

  The AP | February 9, 2021

• Nation’s public schools must not forget ‘lost group’ from Class of 2020

  NC Policy Watch | February 10, 2021