×

Gov. approves legislation allowing schools to use ‘alternative means’

Gov. Tom Wolf has approved legislation to give district latitude to try to educate students during the COVID-19 criss and ensure teachers continue to be paid.

A section of the SB 751 entitled “Pandemic of 2020” applies “only to the school year 2019-2020.” The rest of the bill addresses teacher evaluation metrics.

The bill was presented to the governor on March 25.

Up front, the General Assembly concluded that “requiring all school entities to be kept open each school year for at least 180 instructional days is waived immediately.”

Additionally, the bill would give the Secretary of Education the power to “order the closure of all school entities until the threat to health and safety caused by the pandemic of 2020 has ended.”

In the interim, the General Assembly’s legislation gave each school entity the latitude to “make a good faith effort to plan to offer continuity of education to students using alternative means during the period of closure.”

Such plans that districts make in that regard, the bill would require, will be submitted to the Department of Education and available on the district’s website.

The legislation also addresses teacher pay, including a provision that states that no “employe (sic) of any school entity who was employed as of March 13, 2020, shall receive more or less compensation than the employee would otherwise have been entitled to receive from the school entity had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred….”

Non-public schools were also given in the legislation permission to close while “minimum instructional time requirements” and the requirement to administer “standardized achievement test or statewide test… shall not apply.”

Here are some other highlights of the bill that is pending the governor’s signature

The 12 week student teacher requirement and the minimum total number of hours for career and technical education would be waived, in addition to career center occupational testing.

Personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies would be required to be provided to those tasked with cleaning school facilities.

Charter schools will continue to receive their regular tuition payments from school districts.

Elementary and secondary testing and accountability requirements would be waived

Contracts with school bus companies can be renegotiated “to ensure contracted personnel and fixed costs” and school districts will receive reimbursement for transportation “at a rate the school entity would have received had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today