Up to the Minute Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Updates

Timeline

April 28th, 2020: School year ends early for some schools

April 24, 2020: Webinar regarding rights during quarantine

April 9, 2020: Philly Charter parochial students to receive Chrome books

April 6, 2020: Montgomery Law Firm offers tracking form for IEP rights during COVID-19

April 6, 2020: Schools still struggle to implement cyber education

April 1, 2020: Pennsylvania govern announces indefinite period of school closing

March 17, 2020: Philly schools decide to pursue online, remote education

COVID as led to knew twists on issues faced by students with ADHD, autism, behavioral issues, IEPs and other challenges. Attorney Timera Bullock discusses the new issues with regards to technology and the lack of support children are receiving with regards to their education rights.

Behavioral psychologist Dr Sarah Woldoff talks about reactions to COVID among teens and children. She also explains the importance of structure, how Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) are currently being handled, and more.

Learn more about Dr. Woldoff on her site or her Facebook page. http://woldoffandassociates.com/

https://www.facebook.com/drwoldoff/

Now that we are all at home, it’s a good time to review your child's Individualized Education Program. Where should you start? Dr. Mary Montgomery, gives pointers from her experience as an education law paralegal.

Dr. Campbell describes how learning disability evaluations related to reading are being conducted while children are not going to a physical location for school. She also discusses what parents can do to help their children make progress in reading and writing. Dr. Campbell is the founder of a nonprofit organization that, according the their site, tests for cognitive challenges, learning deficits, and issues related to reading. Learn more at https://readingclinicinc.org/comprehensive-diagnostic-testing/

or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/readingclinicinc/.

Bradley Flynn shares his experience with virtual hearings. Virtual hearings have facilitated legal proceedings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. What is a virtual hearing?

2. Office of Dispute Resolutions Guidance?

3. Where to virtual hearings happen?

4. How do they work?

5. Are they here to stay?

Knowing where to start addressing issues with your schools faculty, staff, and administration is not always clear. Things get more muddled when you factor in the fact that everything must be done online while school is out.

Attorney Brett Swanson discusses the chain of command. She also and gives guidance on what you can do to bring up issues with regards to individualized education programs and more while school’s are closed.

Speech Pathologist Michael McCleod discusses his experience with teletherapy sessions, the future of evaluations, parent’s role in therapy, and more.

Find out more about Mike and speech and language pathology services Website: https://www.grownowtherapy.com/ Instagram: @grownowtherapy Email: mike@grownowtherapy.com

Schools are Closing Early - Joe Montgomery from EducationLawyers.com Reacts

From the Wall Street Journal:

“Some districts are giving up on remote learning and ending the academic year early, after discovering that it was too cumbersome for teachers, students and parents.

Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Georgia, Texas and elsewhere plan to end a week to several weeks early.

Schools have struggled to launch remote learning for more than 50 million children across the country during the coronavirus pandemic in the largest experiment in remote learning ever. Among the issues they’ve encountered, not all students have internet access or have parents available to help, causing concerns about inequity. As a result, many districts haven’t required schoolwork be completed or graded. Student participation, when schools are even able to measure it, has often been below regular attendance level.”

Reminder: Monday 4/27 @11:30 AM - Covid School and Education Essential Parent Webinar Reminder - We will NOT be silenced!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Sign up is limited to ensure time for your questions!

Life is changing by the minute. Routines are upended. The idea of school has been completely reframed for the time being. There are only 180 days in a school year, each one is precious. The school days are especially precious to students with disabilities. Regression with limited recoupment is a very real risk when there is time off from school. Some IEP supports and services are difficult to implement in a cyber education environment, but these services may still be required. Parents are struggling with attention and behaviors at home. This is bumpy terrain in foggy woods. Let us help you navigate.

When: April 27, 2020 @ 11:30am EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Life is changing by the minute. Routines are upended. The idea of school has been completely reframed for the time being. There are only 180 days in a school year, each one is precious. The school days are especially precious to students with disabilities. Regression with limited recoupment is a very real risk when there is time off from school. Some IEP supports and services are difficult to implement in a cyber education environment, but these services may still be required. Parents are struggling with attention and behaviors at home. This is bumpy terrain in foggy woods. Let us help you navigate.

Sign up limited to first 100 registrants, sign up now!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Philly Charter parochial students will receive Chrome books! Comcast and the 76ers are also getting involved in helping to close the digital divide. Watch this video to learn more!

Watch this video for updates with regards to your children’s education and how learning is being addressed locally and in other countries.

What do these hard times mean for your child’s IEP or 504? Watch the video to learn how you can receive a review of your child’s IEP and 504 to determine what, if any, support and services your child should be receiving.

Digital preparedness in the US is being tested like never before amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to access quality education online is being exposed. Many students lack adequate technology such as laptops that can support online learning, software that can provide accessibility features for educational content, and many simply lack internet access. Although some administrators and private sector organizations are taking action, a scalable solution is still underway. Read more…

A Video Message from Joe Montgomery

Up to the day COVID-19 coverage (as the Coronavirus relates to schools and education) continues below… Please feel free to call or text 215-650-7563 or use the chat option on the website if you have any questions or updates that you would like to share. We are all in this together! Peace, love, kindness to all.

Coping With COVID-19

Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of all public schools in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, parents have a lot of questions about how to cope with the crisis and, more importantly, how to help their school-age kids manage the sudden halt in their routine and the stresses that come with it. We’ll try to provide some answers to those questions, and send along additional useful information as it becomes available.

School Closings

Pennsylvania

As of now, Governor Wolf has ordered the closing of all public and private schools in PA for two weeks: from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27. But with the uncertainties hanging over the spread of COVID-19 infection and the outlook for containing it, parents would do well to anticipate that the shut-down will last longer, and plan accordingly. 

New Jersey

All of New Jersey’s public and private schools will close indefinitely starting Wednesday, March 18. 

Predicting How Long the Shutdown Will Last

If the recent history of federal, state and local government actions to restrict essential community functions like schooling is any guide, predicting when? or how long? is a gambler’s game. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) is now anticipating school closures that might run to eight weeks. 

CDC guidance released March 13 said that, in areas with “substantial community spread” of the coronavirus, closures need to last a minimum of four to eight weeks to serve as a “larger community mitigation strategy.” That’s much longer than many current closures, which are scheduled to last two or three weeks. But it is not a great surprise, given the collected research and experience that the CDC brings to bear on the question.

Various arms of the U.S. government have been developing strategies for combating pandemic influenza for at least the past 20 years Those strategies generally rely heavily on ways of slowing the spread of viral transmissions – “flattening the curve”* – to reduce strain on the healthcare system (particularly the need for scarce resources such as beds and ventilators) and provide the time needed to develop and deploy vaccines. 

*Note: “Flattening the curve” refers to the goal of moving from the peak of a viral outbreak – when the rate of discovering new infections is at its height – to a period of flatter growth, even decline, in new cases.

One measure essential and universal to containment strategies is closing schools, either reactively, in response to a cluster of student infections, or preemptively to help slow the transmission rate. Studies analyzing the 1918-1919 Spanish Influenza found that cities that closed their schools earlier had lower death rates. For instance, St. Louis closed its schools proactively and experienced a 2.2% death rate. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, waited until the peak of the crisis to close its schools and experienced a death rate nearly three times higher.

School Meals in Philadelphia

The School Board of Philadelphia and other city agencies have efforts underway to make sure that children who normally take meals at school will still have access to those meals. At this writing, 30 area schools will be providing up to two, shelf-stable (“grab and go”) meals a day between the hours and 9 a.m. and noon every weekday.  A current list of those meal locations can be found at https://www.phila.gov/2020-03-14-find-free-meals-and-safe-spaces-for-students-while-schools-are-closed/ .

In addition, the City announced that there will be an afternoon meal available at 3 p.m. every weekday at up to 50 city recreation centers. But check the Recreation Department’s website for potential closures before you travel: https://www.phila.gov/2020-03-14-50-recreation-centers-and-six-older-adult-centers-to-remain-open/

What Is the Risk To My Child?

Information about COVID-19 in children is somewhat limited, but information made available by the CDC suggests that children with confirmed COVID-19 generally had mild symptoms. A small percentage of children have been reported to have more severe illness, however. People who have serious chronic medical conditions are believed to be at higher risk. Despite lower risk of serious illness among most children, children with COVID-19-like symptoms should avoid contact with others who might be at higher risk, such as older adults and adults with serious chronic medical conditions.

Mandatory School Time

In Pennsylvania, the Governor has suspended the state requirement that school districts and schools provide at least 180 days of classroom instruction in the school year.

Children With Special Needs

The health emergency dictates that state and local authorities close facilities for the protection of students, teachers and the public. But it doesn’t give any school or school system a pass on its obligations to give equal treatment to disabled and non-disabled students, or to provide a free appropriate education to children with special needs. 

Understanding how all of the relevant federal and state education laws apply in the current environment is a complex task and subject to significant uncertainties. But there are a few principles that you should keep in mind:

• If a child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), his or her school must implement that IEP to the maximum extent practicable. Again, what’s required in an individual case will be subject to the limits on the school’s operations and capacity prevailing at the time.

• Accommodations, modifications or other supports guaranteed under Section 504 must also be provided to the maximum extent practicable.

• In a school district providing no instruction or services to general education students, a school is not required to deliver any more to special education students.   But a school that makes arrangements for general education kids to get on-line instruction at home, for example, must generally make a program of similar benefit available to special needs children. http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_mobile_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=3592292741&message_id=18311591&user_id=AASA&jobid=47277348&fbclid=IwAR0De-tpS8gPogADlAkfK-DLH8jcHXHpy7BvLjZrcg2ngAEaqVMkXZ5BzHk

• If a student with a disability could benefit from online or virtual instruction, instructional telephone calls or other instructional activities, a school/district should extend the opportunity to that student wherever possible.

• Schools transitioning to remote instruction may be required to – or at least would be well advised to – 

  • provide appropriate technology and access to all students, including students with special needs; 

  • ensure that students have required assistive technology needs met by the school; and 

  • provide support services at home if they are relevant to the child’s interim program of instruction and are practical to provide at home.

• Parents should pay careful attention to which services their child’s school does and does not deliver during this emergency period, and raise questions with teachers and administrators where there appears to be a gap in service that isn’t necessitated by the crisis.

• If a special-needs child is expected to be excluded from school – whether selectively or with all other students – for a lengthy time (generally, more than 10 consecutive school days), the child’s parent or other IEP team member may request an IEP meeting to discuss the possible need for services during the gap. 

• When a child with a disability is classified as needing homebound instruction because of a medical problem, as ordered by a physician, and is home for an extended period (generally, more than 10 consecutive school days), an IEP meeting is necessary to change the child’s placement and the IEP, if warranted. The school/district must provide at least 10 days’ prior written notice of any such change.

• Depending on how long a school closure lasts and the extent of the instruction (and testing) a school was able to provide to a special-needs child during that time, it may be necessary for the school/district to undertake a re-evaluation of the child to assess the appropriateness of his or her existing program and supports on the return to school. 

Talking to Children About COVID-19

The PA Department of Health has published useful guidance about how to talk to your children about the coronavirus pandemic sensibly and without alarm:

https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/talking-to-children-about-covid-19-(coronavirus)-a-parent-resource

Parents should reinforce good prevention habits with their children, as in: 

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Activities During the Hiatus From School

CDC recommends that children and teens be discouraged from gathering in other public places while school is closed – to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

We can’t avoid corona virus in the news, so lets talk about how is affecting education. What’s the answer in schools? For some schools it’s online education, pivoting to cyber school until COVID-19  plays out. 

But as with all solutions, there are problems. Forget about the importance of socialization for now, thats the topic for another day. 

But there are two things we cant forget - 

1. the need for certain individualized instructions that may be in a child's IEP that by nature would have to be done in a brick and mortar setting -- 

2. And 2 - the digital divide

Let’s start with the digital divide. What is the digital divide? The digital divide is the gap between those who have ready access to computers and the Internet, and those who do not.

Internet is almost everywhere, but it’s not everywhere. There are plenty of lower income families without broadband access, and even more familes without the hardware necessary to access a cyber program. 

Jessica Rosenworcel, an FCC commissioner, said Tuesday during a Senate hearing, "Now is absolutely the time to talk about the coronavirus disruption and how technology can help. Nationwide we are going to explore the expansion of tele-work, tele-health and tele-education, and in the process we are going to expose some really hard truths about the scope of the digital divide."

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pointed out that "You have some schools around the country closed. They're trying to arrange distance learning and homework over the internet. Obviously those students who are not connected are put at a huge disadvantage and there are some students who don't have a computer at home."