GENERAL EDUCATION DURING THE COVID CRISIS

There has been a lot of news and updates since March 10th when Governor Baker declared a State of Emergency in Massachusetts.  We are highlighting some of these important topics in this blog, but it is not a complete discussion.

SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

As of April 21st, all public and private schools (not including residential special education schools) in Massachusetts will remain closed through the end of the school year.  The location where your child receives their education may be closed but they still have the right to an education.  Every enrolled student should be participating in “Remote Learning.” The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education  (or DESE) recommends that students should engage in meaningful learning for approximately half the length of a regular school day, and learning should be a combination of educator-directed and student-directed learning.

If you would like to learn more about DESE’s recommendations for “Remote Learning” please click here.

2020 MCAS REQUIREMENTS

The MCAS testing requirements for the school year are suspended/cancelled. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will modify or waive MCAS competency standards typically required to acquire a high school diploma for all students set to complete high school at the end of this school year. This is a huge windfall for those students who struggled to pass MCAS and faced the uncertainty of passing the test in time to earn their high school diploma.

FOOD INSECURITIES:

Many districts are still providing free meals to students in need. If your student would benefit from this service, call your student’s principal and or superintendent for the district directly. If your district is not providing this service, there are many agencies that are offering help. Here are just a few, that you can contact to check availability:

                  Project Bread's FoodSource                                 Food for Free

Additionally, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is also working with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and districts to implement “Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer,” or P-EBT. P-EBT is a provision from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020. P-EBT allows states to issue benefits to families with children who would be receiving free or reduced-price school meals if schools were not closed right now. Once DESE has the required information they need, new benefits will be added to EBT cards for students whose families already have EBT cards, and an EBT card will be mailed to eligible households that do not already have one. If your family is experiencing financial hardships due to COVID-19, you should reach out to your district to see if your student would currently qualify for free or reduced-price school meals so that they will receive this benefit.

 EXPECTATIONS:

Each parent/guardian should know that their student will have some gaps in their learning due to this closure. DESE and the school districts have been placed in an impossible situation and are providing solutions that seem to be the best options for the health and safety of all interested parties. When your student does resume ‘normal’ schooling, there should be some type of competency testing to gauge where your student’s gaps are and what supports they need to close the gap so that they are performing on grade level. There is no requirement that districts do this testing, this is just our opinion and we would strongly encourage parents/guardians to ask for this if it is not offered.

In the meanwhile, try to provide your student with a consistent schedule that focuses on their successes. There are many resources out there to help supports the ‘home school’ atmosphere such as PBS Learning Media, which offers educational materials on key academic subjects for all grades from Pre-K to 12.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549
ellen@emcurranlegal.com