TDOE Releases Guidance on Reopening Schools for Local Education Authorities in TN.

The Tennessee Department of Education has released an overview for local education authorities regarding the departments guidance on reopening Tennessee schools this fall.

“This has been a time unlike any other in our lives. COVID-19 has suddenly and significantly shifted education in the state of Tennessee. As educators and students across the state navigate a new distance learning environment, a need for innovative resources to support learning exists. The Tennessee Department of Education must support high-quality educational opportunities for the nearly one million students in our care, such that we can ensure no child is disadvantaged by the current COVID-19 pandemic and that our schools and districts are supported moving into and throughout next year and beyond. Ultimately, we must keep people safe,” states Commissioner Penny Schwinn.

TDOE notes that the overview is only a “framing document and not an implementation document. It is intended to provide broad questions and considerations for local districts. Implementation guidance with specific
sample procedures or actions will be provided through the School Reopening Toolkits and supplemental resources listed in the appendix. Information contained in this document is consistent with national and state guidance as of the time of publishing and will be updated as
guidance changes. We anticipate the need for flexibility and rapid adoption of best practice, which is evolving as we learn more about this disease.”

The state’s overview consists of guidance on when and how to open, and what might be done in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19.

“As we engaged in conversations and solicited feedback related to the COVID-19 response, similar trends emerged. What we found from public feedback, individual meetings and conversations, and the needs assessments that have been conducted is that (1) the framework
of the Best for All strategic plan appropriately addresses the major issues that we are seeing related to the pandemic, (2) many of the initiatives of the strategic plan address the needs named in the pandemic and now need to be accelerated, and (3) there are growing and emerging needs that should be addressed to support our school districts.”

There are some specific themes emerging from this needs assessment that are worth highlighting in each bucket:

• Academics: The state and/or individual districts may need to close schools again or implement social distancing procedures that adjust the way schools are run. This will impact the ways in which schools are able to deliver high-quality academic programs for all students.
• Whole Child: Students and families may have additional non-academic needs as a result of the pandemic. We must also focus on equipping educators to help them address non-academic needs. All of these areas should be attended to, especially as schools reopen.
• Educators: Teachers are working hard and need support to reach all students. This is especially true for our most vulnerable students and those attending lower-performing schools. We must empower our educators to teach in varied settings and spaces so that all children can be reached.
• Systems: Local districts will need to adjust budgets to accommodate surplus and deficit line items but may still have local expenses that exceed budget forecasts.

Identifying a School Year and Day.

Districts should review and consider a series of frameworks that ask important, but broad questions:

•How do you address reopening schools within public health and education
recommendations and guidelines?
• How do you plan for a resurgence? What will your plan be when a parent is diagnosed with COVID-19? A student? A teacher? More than one individual in the school?
• How do you think about compensatory education if a school or classroom needs to close or for students who must stay home due to underlying medical conditions or infection and exposure?
• How will you communicate your plans and decisions?

“These are all critical questions but exist in isolation and without coherence for implementation strategies or the policies that guide or direct local actions and capacities. To address this within the state agency, we have elected to answer all of these questions through the framing of
“what is a school day?” From there, any questions that we have are answered in the frame of how it impacts the statutory definition of a 6.5-hour school day, and the need for 180 days in a school year.

If the statutory expectation for any work that we do is to ensure that all students have access to a full school day, for a full school year, then our planning is driven by a common objective. We address reopening of schools from the lens of how we collaboratively ensure that students are
able to receive a full day of instruction safely, whether that is staggered starts, staggered days, etc. It is about what to do in alternative settings and how to make decisions to accommodate.

We plan for resurgence by planning for how students will receive instruction at a distance. We plan for compensatory and remediation education by determining how to provide additional supports without reducing regular access to instruction. We recognize this should be done as a supplement and not supplant of regular services.

Most importantly, this framing around the definition of a school day requires the state to put stakes in the ground related to what is critically important in that school day, with rationale as to why. Are hours the driving force? Content? Mastery? These are the types of discussions that
typically do not occur in a traditional format because a “day” is driven so much by time. When time is no longer always in the control of the school system due to an at-home education setting, the system should then take a different approach related to how access and opportunity for an equitable education is defined.

The TDOE will partner with the State Board of Education (SBE) to provide clarity to the field about how this will be reviewed in a potentially distance environment. This will happen through an SBE-scheduled board meeting where members will vote on a distance learning policy. As such, any guidance provided here relates only to strategies and frameworks for how schools and districts would be able to meet the existing statutory requirements.”

To read the full overview on what the TDOE is guiding school districts and staffs on and plans regarding the upcoming school year, follow the link here to read the full 44 page, extensive document.