AJE is happy to share these updates from the Department of Education:

RETURN TO SCHOOL ROADMAP:

On August 2, the Department released the “Return to School Roadmap” to support students, educators, schools, and communities as they return to safe and healthy in-person learning this fall and emerge from the pandemic stronger than before.  The Roadmap features three “landmark” priorities that schools, school districts, and communities are encouraged to focus on to ensure all students are primed for success: (1) prioritizing the health and safety of students, educators, and staff; (2) building school communities and supporting students’ social, emotional, and mental health; and (3) accelerating academic achievement.  As part of the Roadmap, the agency will share resources for practitioners and parents on each priority and highlight schools and districts using innovative practices to help address the priorities.  It will also share how American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding and other federal relief aid may be used to tackle the priorities, as well as outline key investments from President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda needed to deal with inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, particularly for students in underserved communities.

Among the current resources are:

A fact sheet for schools, families, and communities, detailing the three priorities and describing how schools and districts are addressing each in effective ways

A guide for education systems explaining what schools can do to protect the health and safety of students, including increasing access to COVID-19 vaccinations and taking steps to implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recently updated K-12 school guidance recommending universal indoor masking for all students, educators, staff, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status (see President Biden’s statement and Secretary Cardona’s statement).

A checklist that parents may use to prepare themselves and their children for the safe return to in-person learning this fall, leading with information about vaccinating eligible students and using masks if students are not yet vaccinated.

 

PROMOTING YOUTH VACCINATIONS:

The Return to School Roadmap builds on the President’s call to increase COVID-19 vaccinations among adolescents as students return to school.  Vaccinations are the leading public health strategy to end the pandemic.  They are also the best way to prevent outbreaks, so students can return to and remain in classrooms.

Last week, among other new actions to get Americans vaccinated and slow the spread of the delta variant, the President called on school districts nationwide to hold at least one pop-up vaccination clinic over the coming weeks, and the Administration directed pharmacies participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program to prioritize youth vaccinations and host clinics at schools and postsecondary institutions.

This week, the Administration announced additional actions to help kids go back to school safely, including:

Incorporating COVID-19 vaccination into sports physicals for student athletes this summer and fall, with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and 10 other sports and medicine organizations issuing a consensus statement to all their members urging medical providers to ask about COVID-19 vaccine status during sports physicals, and, where available, administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

Sending pediatricians to “Back to School Nights” to get communities vaccinated against COVID-19, with the National PTA calling on its 22,000 local member PTAs and parent leaders nationwide to host community conversations about getting vaccinated at Back to School parent meetings.

Providing institutions with more resources to host pop-up vaccine clinics as students return to campus, with a “Vax to School” College Checklist to increase awareness of and access to the vaccine — following the nearly 900 colleges in the COVID-19 College Challenge that have committed to building vaccination rates.

Launching a Back to School “Week of Action” (August 7-15) to get more young people vaccinated, with more than 90 youth groups, faith-based organizations, and schools hosting over 200 events and supportive canvassing, phone banks, and text banks.

(Note: Secretary Cardona joined White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki for the August 5 press briefing.)

 

MORE ON AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN (ARP):

The Department also released nearly $600 million in funding under the ARP Homeless Children and Youth (HCY) program to support students experiencing homelessness.  Back in April, the agency released the first $200 million of the $800 million in ARP HCY funding to states.  Following the Department’s approval of all state applications, the remaining funding is being made available before the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.  Funds can be used to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness.  They can also be used to provide wrap-around services, in light of the impact of the pandemic, to enable homeless children and youth to participate fully in school activities (blog post and Twitter thread).

Additionally, the Department announced $3.2 billion in emergency grants under the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund to support students who attend more than 1,800 institutions and provide resources to help these institutions recover from the impacts of the pandemic.  Some $2.97 billion from the ARP will go to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and under-resourced institutions eligible for Strengthening Institutions programs.  Some $225 million from other relief bills will go to public and non-profit institutions — largely community colleges — with the greatest unmet needs.

 

ED Review is a product of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Communications and Outreach, State and Local Engagement