State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman announced at River Springs Elementary School that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) will purchase and distribute over $33 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies to all eighty one public school districts to support efforts to maintain and return to face to face instruction.
The Department of Justice announced it has awarded more than $87 million to bolster school security, support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident, and conduct research on school safety.
The Indiana Secured School Board has approved more than $19 million in matching state grant funds. The $19.4 million in awards allows the Board to fully fund all eligible, top-priority projects identified by 418 schools in their applications to the Secured School Safety Grant program (SSSG). In addition, the Board fully funded all school threat assessment projects, as well as eligible projects geared toward implementing health and wellness support services for parents and students.
During an emergency special meeting, members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) voted to authorize a potential safety strike aimed at pressing the Detroit, Mich. Public Schools Community District to implement basic science-based safety protocols before schools reopen during the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Chicago, Ill. Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced that the 2020-21 CPS school year will begin remotely on September 8.
A multidisciplinary team of Johns Hopkins University researchers has launched a new website that provides a range of tools dedicated to assessing and guiding K-12 school reopening plans across the United States, including a School Reopening Policy Tracker that provides real-time analysis of the latest guidance documents from every state.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is releasing new science-based resources and tools for school administrators, teachers, parents, guardians and caregivers when schools open this fall.
A new US Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found two-thirds of school districts had facilities with physical barriers that may limit access to students with disabilities.
Lawmakers of the state of New York have passed legislation to pause the use of facial recognition technology in schools until 2022. The moratorium was introduced by State Senator Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan and Brooklyn) and Assemblymember Monica Wallace (D-Lancaster).
BASIC, [Re] Build America's School Infrastructure Coalition, has urged Congress to enact into law Division K of HR2, passed by the House, which is the Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act (RRASA) and would authorize $100 billion for long-standing school infrastructure.