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Dear Colleagues:
Hopefully your district assessment coordinators already have been in contact with you this morning about the embargoed district release of the 2020-2021 School Report Card data. This release provides an opportunity for you to see all final School Report Card data before the embargoed release to the media tomorrow and the public release on Wednesday.
In our messaging to the media, we are stressing that the data this year – almost entirely – is not comparable to past years. You and your students have been through an unusual period of time since early 2020. Through a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education, we did not do statewide testing for the 2019-2020 school year and last year our usual test was shortened and you were given more flexibility to help accommodate testing students who were taking classes virtually.
We know the test scores this year were challenging. But I want us to use this data and our experiences of the past year to build not just a back-to-normal school year, but a better-than-normal school year.
The 2020-2021 school year, while it had some tremendous challenges, also gave us a chance to test different types of learning. In my discussions with students from across Kentucky about what last school year was like for them, I consistently heard students say they enjoyed the flexibility that virtual learning provided them. Some of our less-outgoing students really thrived in a virtual environment.
For our older students, the virtual learning gave them the opportunity to develop critical executive functions, such as keeping to a schedule, keeping track of their assignments and learning how to track down answers or assistance when it was needed. While it was challenging to learn at the time, these skills will serve them well in their future careers.
This school year started off as another lesson in crisis management. We didn’t expect to still have to be managing infections like we are, we didn’t expect there to be so much controversy on the local and statewide levels about wearing face masks and we certainly didn’t anticipate just how many of our valued educators we’d be losing to this virus.
In spite of all the disruptions, we are moving from crisis management into something more routine and manageable. You know how to use the layered mitigation strategies we’ve been implementing since last year. You already have working relationships with your local health department and you know how to implement quarantine procedures. We’re not normal yet, but the unusual has become the status quo for now and I commend your efforts to keep learning going and keep your communities, students and staff as safe as possible. On the bright side, we are starting to see the number of COVID cases leveling off and hopefully soon, decline.
And finally, I know many of you are coming upon fall breaks. While the pull to do more work is always strong, I want you to consider how to take this time and decompress a little. Your students and teachers aren’t the only ones who have been under stress lately. Be kind to yourself and remember that in order for you to take care of anyone else, you have to look after yourself first.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner & Chief Learner
School Report Card District Early Release Review Period Begins Today
The early release (district embargo) period for the School Report Card (SRC) began today. This release provides an opportunity for districts to see all final School Report Cards and to access the Research Data sets before they are released to the media and the public.
School Report Card contacts were asked to share access information this morning with superintendents and school and district leaders that understand this is an embargo period. During an embargo, district and school staff may discuss the data results with teachers, local board members or school-based decision making council members. However, data cannot be shared in public meetings or by the media.
The release of data to media will be tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 28. The media release period provides media time to review and prepare stories prior to public release. All data is embargoed until Sept. 29. However, it may be discussed with media during this period to prepare for a local press release.
Data previously has been reviewed in the SRC approval tool or SDRR. However, this is the first opportunity to review Academic Performance and Transition to Adult Life data in the School Report Card.
The public user’s guide provides details on how to navigate the site. Please note that data is limited for this release, for additional detail, read through the 2020-2021 School Report Card Release Notes.
2021 ARP Electric School Bus Rebates
The 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Electric School Bus Rebates will offer $7 million to eligible school districts for the replacement of old diesel school buses with new electric school buses. Selected applicants that scrap and replace their old diesel buses with new electric buses will receive a rebate of $300,000 per bus, for a maximum of four buses totaling $1.2 million.
Applicants will be selected in a lottery, with one applicant from the 10 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regions. Additional information can be found on the 2021 ARP Electric School Bus Rebates webpage.
Eligible old school buses to be replaced must be used to transport 10 or more pre-primary, primary or secondary school students to or from schools and be operational. Operational means it must be able to start, move in all directions and have all operational parts. The buses must be Type C or D diesel school buses with a 2006 or older model year engine. The bus shall have accumulated at least 10,000 or more miles transporting students over either the previous 12 months or calendar year (January-December 2019), or have been in use for at least four days per week on average transporting students between Sept. 1, 2019, and Feb. 29, 2020. The engine and chassis must be scrapped before receiving rebate payment.
The eligible replacement buses must not be ordered prior to receiving a signed EPA selection letter. The drivetrain must operate solely on battery-electric power and be a Type C or D school bus and be purchased, not leased or leased-to-own. It cannot be funded with any other federal funds or Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust funds, and it must operate in a similar manner and over similar routes as the original school bus.
The 2021 ARP Electric School Bus Rebates will run concurrently with the annual Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebates. The DERA School Bus Rebates are open to all eligible school districts and can be used for electric, diesel or propane buses in Kentucky. The DERA rebates vary from $20,000-$65,000 depending on the fuel type, with a maximum rebate of $300,000. Old and new buses must have gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds.
Webinars will be given by the EPA beginning in early October. The deadline for emailing applications with scans of bus titles and registrations will be in early November. Official selection letters emailed to selectees and list of applicants that were not selected will be posted online during the first quarter of 2022.
The Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition plans to also hold a webinar for school districts in October. No date has been given at this time.
For more information about DERA funding contact the EPA DERA helpline at dera@epa.gov or call (877) 623-2322.
Kentucky Department of Public Health Releases SB 1 Guidance on Test to Stay
During the recent 2021 General Assembly Special Session, Senate Bill 1 was enacted to address various public school operations that have been impacted by the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic. In Section 4 of SB 1, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) was directed to develop a COVID-19 “Test to Stay” model plan that may be implemented by school districts – in whole or in part – to minimize the impact of quarantining non-symptomatic students and staff, allowing them to stay in the classroom.
DPH has released “COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools,” dated Sept. 17, 2021, which includes “Test To Stay.” A school district’s local health department shall provide assistance in implementing a school district’s test to stay plan or any other local school board-approved COVID-19 plan for masking, contract tracing and quarantining, including the location and procurement of resources. The DPH shall provide support to the local health departments in assisting the school districts.
Test to stay is not a separate program or model, rather it is a form of diagnostic screening under the normal K-12 testing program. Test to stay is a “modified quarantine” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
When a student/staff self identifies as positive through outside testing or is identified as positive through the screening program, those who are identified as “close contacts” (per CDC definition) have one of three choices:
- Quarantine at home for 10 days, monitoring for symptoms and returning to normal activities after day 10 if asymptomatic, no test required.
- Quarantine at home for 7 days, testing on day 5 and returning to normal activities on day 8, if negative test and asymptomatic the entire time.
- Quarantine at home for 7 days, and participate in test to stay, testing each day via rapid antigen or every other day via PCR. The student or staff member must remain asymptomatic. If each sequential test is negative, then the individual is allowed into the classroom for school each day of modified quarantine. However, they MUST remain in normal quarantine at all other times outside the classroom, wear a mask when outside of the home and conduct continuous daily monitoring for symptoms. Test to stay is ONLY ALLOWED for classroom exposures.
Questions regarding test to stay should be emailed to Jim Alford or he can be reached by phone at (270) 291-2330
Get more information by reading K-12 School COVID Testing Program (Update).
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