School board members from across Indiana voiced opposition Tuesday to a Republican-backed proposal that would add political party identifications to what are now nonpartisan school board elections throughout the state.
Superintendent Flora Reichanadter tweeted that a confluence of driver illness, planned medical leave, and the general shortage of bus drivers led to many routes without drivers.
Districts such as Washington Township have found themselves caught in the middle of a political and public health maelstrom, trying to balance changing health guidance amid the delta surge with the demands of parents and desire for in-person learning.
The relaxed guidelines come amid a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 are eligible to get shots, as well as a general decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Marion County officials hope to ramp up vaccinations among 12- to 18-year-olds before the start of the school year to enable relaxed masking and social distancing restrictions.
The startup has already signed deals with schools and metro bus services in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Jacksonville, Florida. The firm also rolled out a system two months ago for rail cars and has it in place in Philadelphia.
A coalition of parents is pushing back on Marion County’s recent public health order that will close schools to in-person instruction for about eight weeks, especially when bars and restaurants are allowed to remain open.
The sites serve as hubs where small groups of students are provided weekday virtual learning supervision and support at no cost to families.
At a meeting Tuesday, the board discussed a framework drafted by its staff that offered several ideas for updating the school accountability system.
With four seats on the seven-member board up for election, the outcome could easily shift the balance of power in the district.
In the learn-from-home world, educators are encountering friction when extending regular classroom discipline and decorum into young people’s previously private spaces.
Four seats on the seven-member board are up for election Nov. 3. Advocacy groups have drawn the usual battle lines between candidates who back innovation schools and those who are skeptical of the strategy.
The color-coded system, expected to go live Wednesday, assigns scores to counties based on three key metrics: the number of new cases per 100,000 residents, positivity percentage and change in percent positivity from the previous week.
But the leader of the Indiana Senate doubles down on his statement that he can’t guarantee full funding for schools that don’t offer an in-person option for students.
Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray sent a letter to school leaders on Thursday that said there’s “no guarantee” schools that choose not to resume any in-person classes due to health and safety concerns will receive 100% of expected funding.
Washington Township will only offer virtual instruction when school begins this year, a shift in course for the Indianapolis district that had planned to open in-person and full-time with an online option.
School districts across Indianapolis will reopen for the upcoming academic year with in-person instruction and offer virtual instruction for students who are uncomfortable or unable to return to classrooms, according to a letter shared by districts Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the final results of Beech Grove City Schools’ referendums were still being counted Tuesday night, but voters looked to be on the way to approving the $22.4 million funding request.
More than 200 of Indiana’s nearly 300 districts have closed after consultations with local health officials. But, in at least 21 states, officials have ordered closures to try to stop spread of COVID-19.
Mayor Joe Hogsett said that left unchecked, the coronavirus “has the potential to wreak untold damage on our families and the very social safety net that protects our most vulnerable residents.”
