CDE webinar offers insights into new guidance, fields key COVID questions

A Sept. 9 California Department of Education webinar drawing 1,300 attendees provided local educational agencies with clarity on updated guidance for in-person, small group instruction, as well as a deeper dive into the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and its impacts on K–12 schools. Officials […]

Legislative leaders shirked their responsibility in shielding schools from COVID-19 liability

The 2019–20 legislative session ended without Assembly Bill 1384 (O’Donnell, D–Long Beach) being considered by the State Senate. AB 1384 was not defeated by a vote of the State Senate, but by the decision of the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to not schedule […]

State releases updated guidance on in-person, small group instruction

On Friday, Sept. 4, the California Department of  Public Health unveiled updated guidance on providing in-person instruction to small groups of students. The release, which came on the eve of Labor Day weekend, modified guidance introduced on Aug. 25. Among other, more modest changes, the […]

USDA announces extension of summer meal program waivers, ensuring free meals for kids through Dec. 31, 2020

In a win for local educational agencies and students throughout California, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Aug. 31 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will extend several flexibilities that allow summer meal program operators to continue serving free meals to all children through […]

California should prepare to address long-term impacts of COVID-19 on kids’ mental health, experts say

Communities and families have been hit hard by the pandemic, and are likely facing increased stress due to the changes, fear and uncertainty caused by illness, isolation, impending homelessness, job and healthcare loss, California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris said during an Aug. 20 webinar […]

New guidance outlines conditions for small cohorts of students in schools still on county monitoring list

According to new guidance released by the California Department of Public Health on Aug. 25,  local educational agencies in counties on the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list can offer in-person, targeted, specialized support and services to small groups of students as outlined below. The guidance allows […]

Judge blocks U.S. Department of Education from enforcing CARES Act private school funding rule

On Aug. 21, 2020, a federal judge ruled against the U.S. Department of Education in Washington v. DeVos, a lawsuit over how much coronavirus aid public schools must set aside for private school students. The U.S. Department of Education’s interim final rule issued earlier this […]

Special education teachers need professional development to bridge all aspects of the digital divide

The abrupt shift to distance learning this spring revealed glaring and significant disparities that have long been present in student access to technology. Campus closures also highlighted another problem: there is little understanding of how to best educate students with disabilities via distance learning. An […]