Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Schools Off To Rocky Start As More Than 2,000 Quarantined In 5 States
CNN: More Than 2,000 Students, Teachers And Staff Quarantined In Several Schools
For many US schools welcoming students back, a return to in-person learning was abruptly halted after new Covid-19 cases. More than 2,000 students, teachers and staff members across five states have been quarantined after at least 230 positive coronavirus cases were reported. It's a grim start to the school year many hoped could mark the beginning of a return to normalcy, but one experts have long warned would come at a cost. (Walker, 8/13)
AP: 'Impossible': School Boards Are At Heart Of Reopening Debate
Helena Miller listened to teachers, terrified to reenter classrooms, and parents, exhausted from trying to make virtual learning work at home. She heard from school officials who spent hundreds of hours on thousands of details — buses, classrooms, football, arts, special education. She spent countless nights, eyes wide open, her mind wrestling over the safety and education of the 17,000 children she swore to protect. She thought of her own kids, two in high school and one middle-schooler — the reasons she ran for Rock Hill’s school board six years ago. (Collins, 8/13)
Politico: New Jersey Schools Can Begin Year Remotely, But Only If They Prove They Can’t Reopen In-Person
New Jersey schools can begin the academic year remotely, Gov Phil Murphy announced Wednesday, but in order to access the online option, districts will have to prove to the state they cannot reopen safely for in-person learning. “There has to be a rationale associated with not opening at least in hybrid,” Murphy said at his regular coronavirus briefing. “There’s got to be a reason for it.” (Sitrin, 8/12)
The Hill: Rhode Island Pushes Back School Openings By Two Weeks
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) said she will be delaying the reopening of schools by a couple of weeks as plans are made to accommodate for the coronavirus pandemic. Raimondo said Wednesday the plan may end up being a hybrid of remote and in-person learning. (Klar, 8/12)
CNN: Indiana School District Providing Dozens Of Wi-Fi Buses For Students Without Internet
A school district in Indiana, trying to ensure all students have access to the internet for virtual learning, said it's sending 35 WiFi-equipped buses across town during school hours. The South Bend Community School Corporation, the fourth-largest school district in Indiana according to its website, last week announced schools would offer digital-only learning for at least the first eight weeks of the school year, which started Wednesday. (Alsharif and Waldrop, 8/12)
The Seattle Times: With Many Details In Flux, Seattle School Board Approves A Fall Online Learning Plan, Possibility Of Outdoor Classes
It’s official: With a unanimous Wednesday vote from the Seattle School Board, the state’s largest school district will begin the academic year remotely, for the most part. (Bazzaz, 8/13)
The Hechinger Report: The Simple Intervention That Could Lift Kids Out Of ‘Covid Slide’
Tutoring is one of the oldest forms of education. A growing body of research shows that, when done right, it’s also one of the most effective means of lifting student achievement. And yet, while broad swaths of U.S. students participate in tutoring, it has historically been reserved for the moneyed elite and is often cost-prohibitive. ... [E]xperts say making tutors available to more kids – especially those least able to afford to hire one themselves – could be vital to combating learning losses that resulted when the coronavirus forced schools to shut down and transition to online-only instruction. (Wong, 8/10)
In higher-education news —
ABC News: How A College With Zero COVID-19 Cases In 3 Months Safely Reopened
A community college in Ohio has had no reported cases of COVID-19 traced to the school since reopening for in-person classes three months ago. As of Wednesday, the school, Stark State College, said it hasn't had any confirmed cases across its multiple locations. (Deliso, 8/13)
Kaiser Health News: Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data On Racial Disparities
As the coronavirus swept into Detroit this spring, Wayne State University junior Skye Taylor noticed something striking. On social media, many of her fellow Black classmates who live or grew up in the city were “posting about death, like, ‘Oh, I lost this family member to COVID-19,’” said Taylor. The picture was different in Beverly Hills, a mostly white suburb 20 miles away. “People I went to high school with aren’t posting anything like that,” Taylor said. “They’re doing well, their family is doing OK. And even the ones whose family members have caught it, they’re still alive.” (Landhuis, 8/13)
Also —
Politico: DeVos' Sexual Misconduct Rule Will Take Effect Friday After Legal Blocks Fail
A federal judge refused a multi-state effort to strike down Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' new Title IX rule, clearing the path for the policy to take effect Friday. A circuit court judge in the District of Columbia released an order Wednesday denying a request to stop the new rule and to block it as legal action continues. Attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia have brought the lawsuit challenging DeVos' policy change, which mandates how colleges and K-12 schools must respond to reports of sexual misconduct. (Quilantan, 8/12)
CNN: University Of Michigan Doctor Scandal: Super Bowl Champ Athletes Leveling New Sex Abuse Allegations
A two-time Super Bowl champion and a former world-class wrestler came forward on Wednesday alleging that they were sexually abused by a University of Michigan team physician under the guise of physical exams. Dr. Robert Anderson directed the school's University Health Service before eventually becoming the wrestling, football, hockey and track teams' doctor. He worked at UM from 1968 to 2003, before dying in 2008. (Sturla and McLaughlin, 8/12)
