Chalkbeat

LISTEN: Students grade cafeteria food at NYC schools’ test kitchen — and in real cafeterias, too

2024-05-15T10:00:00+00:00

Welcome to P.S. Weekly’s food episode, where students are the critics.

High schoolers in the Bronx sound off on the “soggy” grilled cheese sandwiches served in their cafeteria (on “Vegan Friday,” no less). Students discuss having microwave access during lunch. And we join Manhattan fourth graders as they trek to Queens to visit the test kitchen for NYC school cafeterias — winning the invite after one of their classmates wrote a letter complaining when the roasted chicken was removed from the menu because of budget cuts.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Be sure to drop a review in your app or shoot an email to PSWeekly@chalkbeat.org. Tell us what you learned today or what you’re still wondering. We just might read your comment on a future episode.

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell. Listen for new episodes Wednesdays this spring.

Read the full episode transcript below

HOST (Sanaa): Welcome to PS Weekly… The sound of the New York City School System. P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between The Bell and Chalkbeat New York.

I’m your host this week, Sanaa Stokes. I’m an 11th grader at The Professional Performing Arts School in Midtown Manhattan, where some of New York’s best eats are located… And speaking of eats, in just a moment, we’ll hear a lot more about food in New York City schools.

HOST (Sanaa): But first, the Chalkbeat Bulletin….

Julian: I’m Julian Shen-Berro, a reporter from Chalkbeat. Here’s a recap of the week’s biggest education stories:

Schools Chancellor David Banks testified at a Congressional hearing focused on antisemitism in K-12 schools. It was the same committee that grilled several college presidents. Banks told members of Congress that New York City schools have seen “unacceptable incidents of antisemitism,” but that schools have responded to troubling incidents with both education and discipline.

NYC officials are looking to virtual learning to help meet a new mandate limiting class size to no more than 25 students. Virtual learning could potentially help campuses that are tight on space, as students could learn from home–AFTER school and on weekends. Schools have until 2028 to meet the new classroom caps.

And as childhood hunger rises, New York City is launching a program for schools to donate leftover food directly to families in need or to food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens.

To stay up to date on local education news throughout the week, go to chalkbeat.org/newsletters and sign up for the New York Daily Roundup.

HOST (Sanaa): Thanks, Chalkbeat! Now, LETTUCE get into it!

HOST (Sanaa): When kids are hungry, it’s hard to do well in school. For years, New York City schools had a program providing free meals to students who qualified based on financial need, but that gave school food a stigma. Some kids who needed it most, didn’t want to eat it. And there were tens of thousands of kids whose families earned just above the cutoff — but paying full price for school lunch was still a hardship.

All of that changed in 2017, when the city made school meals COMPLETELY free for the million children in public schools. And while that was essential in making sure that all students can eat during the school day, the challenge of food inequity didn’t end there…

Today’s episode is all about FOOD. With our first story, here’s P.S. Weekly reporter Ava Stryker-Robbins.

Segment A1: Test Kitchen

NARR (Ava): Fourth grader Elsa Hammerman is a big fan of the food in the cafeteria of her Washington Heights, Manhattan, school. So when her favorite chicken dish disappeared earlier this spring — a result of budget cuts — Elsa … wrote a letter.

Elsa: Dear Mr. Tricarico, I’m a fourth grader who goes to P.S. I 187.

NARR (Ava): Christopher Tricarico is the senior executive director of Food and Nutrition Services, responsible for all New York City school cafeterias.

Elsa: Me and my friends’ favorite school lunch is the roasted chicken. We hate to see it leave the menu so we were hoping maybe to bring it back next month. It’s okay if not . I understand you may lose money, but please consider it. Sincerely, Elsa Hammerman

NARR (Ava): She sent the letter. Life went on. Then…

Elsa: One day my principal came into our classroom and she asked to talk to me in the hall. At first I was scared because I thought I was in trouble. But then she told me that he wanted to speak to me and my class. So he came to our school with his team and we got to tell him what we like about the foods and what we don’t like

NARR (Ava): And…

Elsa: A few days after we did get the chicken back and it was never better. I was super happy and I was like bouncing off of my friend’s shoulders and she was like, ‘calm down, calm down.’ But everyone was super excited to see that it was back.

NARR (Ava): Elsa wasn’t the only one who complained about the cuts. After outcry from students across the five boroughs, city officials agreed to reinstate popular menu items like French toast sticks, bean and cheese burritos, and chicken dumplings. Schools Chancellor David Banks said feedback from students like Elsa was a key reason for the reversal.

Chancellor David C. Banks NEWS CLIP:: “Once we made some adjustments and pulled back on some menu items, we heard from the kids loud and clear. They were not happy about that …. And I encourage every young person to continue to speak up about the changes that they hope to see in their schools "

NARR (Ava): But that wasn’t the end of the story for Elsa and her classmates.

Christopher Tricarico: We visited the school to meet with her and her class and they had such a great way of explaining what they saw on the menu, what was taken from the menu, and what was being added back to the menu.

NARR (Ava): Christopher Tricarico, the guy in charge of food.

Christopher Tricarico: So we were able to fit her in here so her whole class could see that their voice, their concern, and their advocacy for school food, was really important.

NARR (Ava): Here — The DOE’s School. Food. Test Kitchen.

Alex: Yeah, so what are we, what are we doing here today?

Ava: So we’re going to a DOE test kitchen facility

NARR (Ava): A few weeks ago, Chalkbeat reporter Alex Zimmerman and I got to tag along with Elsa and her classmates on their visit.

Alex: And we’re in Hunter’s Point, Queens. We’re in a giant building that looks kind of like a warehouse that has, like, these huge loading dock doors out front.

NARR (Ava): This is where dishes become official menu items for the city’s hundreds of cafeterias. They have to win approval from the only critics who matter… STUDENTS.

AMBIENT: Sound of students

NARR (Ava): When we arrive, about two dozen 4th graders are settling into rows of desks. In what looks like a classroom, complete with a Smartboard at the front. But behind an inconspicuous door that could easily be mistaken for a closet is an industrial kitchen humming with the same equipment school cafeterias have on hand. The food staff have been busy assembling trays of new menu items that are ready to be shuttled out to the student testers. It kind of feels like the set of a television show.

Chantal: Welcome to taste testing, all right? So, today, it’s your turn, however, before we actually start taste testing, I want to play a game, just to see if you guys…

NARR (Ava): This is Chantal Hewlett, the Student Taste Testing Supervisor. ChantalChantelle got her start in school food 20 years ago as a cafeteria manager and now hosts student groups at the test kitchen. She looks for feedback on everything from flavor to how hard it is to open the packaging.

Chantal: Right, and like I said before, today it’s all about you. If you don’t like something, it’s okay. Let us know now. So we can fix it. Because again, we take your comments and we share them with the company. Okay? They don’t want to hear what the adults have to say.

MUSIC

NARR (Ava): Today’s task: students will taste and rate four food items: an egg and cheese sandwich, a cheesy pasta dish called manicotti, hummus, and a barbecue chicken slider.

NARR (Ava): Here’s the process. Students eat the dish in silence. Once they develop an opinion, they hold up a card called a plicker — basically a fancy bar code. If they hold the card rightside up, it means they liked the dish. Holding it sidewise means they didn’t like it. Then, ChantalChantelle stands at the front of the room and scans all of the codes at once with her phone, which generates an instant tally of how many children approve of what they just ate.

NARR (Ava): Then, on worksheets, students write down what they do or don’t like about the dish.

NARR (Ava): First up: Egg and cheese sandwich.

Chantal: So we’re going to get started with number one, right? We also have ketchup. If anyone wants ketchup with their eggs, that’s fine. All right. And I’m going to tell the adults, please don’t tell the students what to write at all. I’ll be leading the comments later….

NARR (Ava): It looks like a dinner roll stuffed with scrambled egg and melted cheese inside. Alex watches kids in the front of the room while I’m in the back as they chew and ponder and hold up their cards and write their comments. They’re taking their jobs VERY seriously. Then, eventually, they’re allowed to talk.

Student 1: So I thought the egg, like after you taste it, I have to say it’s a little unflavorful, but it felt a little dry for some reason. And also the packet was really wet. So like when I first took out, like I had to like, dry off because I don’t like eating wet food

Student 3: So I really like the meal. Usually eggs give me headaches, so the way that the egg was cooked, didn’t like give me a headache. I did recommend maybe like the size be a bit bigger, but because I know you guys get like other things too, but like for a bit more protein in the morning, maybe just like a bigger size.

Chantal: These are great comments. This is why we do the taste testing…

NARR (Ava): Despite the student critiques, the egg sandwich is an overall hit. Out of 22 student votes, only four said they didn’t like it.

NARR (Ava): In a given year, between 1,500 and 2,000 students from different grade levels and neighborhoods cycle through the test kitchen. School principals typically volunteer their schools — and visits to the test kitchen are so popular that there’s a waiting list to get in.

NARR (Ava): But at the test kitchen, not every item is a hit.

Chantal: We’ve had a burger, a veggie burger. Actually, this is a perfect one that the students didn’t like.

NARR (Ava): Chantal again.

Chantal: When we got it, It was falling apart. It wasn’t shaped properly. You know, the cooking method wasn’t correct. The students thought it needed more flavor. And so we told the company, these are their comments and actually the company just sent us back the reformulated products. So they fixed it.

NARR (Ava): The negative feedback from students can be just as important as the rave reviews.

Chantal: They want to make sure that whatever they cook and serve, the kids actually eat it as opposed to putting it in the garbage.

NARR (Ava): Taste testing is crucial these days as schools implement big menu changes. Christopher Tricarico explains.

Christopher: I think the move now is to continue to expose children to more culturally diverse meals, but also healthier meals coming up with plant powered Fridays and Meatless Mondays, these are examples of providing options for students. We need to be able to meet them where they want to be but we also want to make sure we’re serving healthy and nutritious and delicious meals.

NARR (Ava): And have you been receiving positive feedback from students in schools based off of these shows?

Christopher: We get all kinds of feedback. But it’s my team’s job to take that feedback and really address things at the school level. One of the things I love is that when kids are in school and they like or dislike something that they’re eating, they talk to the kitchen staff. That’s some of the best feedback we get at the school level.

NARR (Ava): About 150 to 200 students from schools across the city typically try each item. And before the Education Department greenlights it for school menus, roughly 75% of those who try it have to like it.

NARR (Ava): On the day we visit, the school food staff have a feeling one item in particular is going to be a tough sell: The manicotti — basically tubes of pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with tomato sauce and a dusting of parmesan.

Chantal: So try new things. Don’t just say, ‘you know what, oh, the white thing in the middle, I don’t like it…

NARR (Ava): With 11 students voting against, the manicotti is the only item that a majority of these fourth graders do not approve.

NARR (Ava): Some students refuse to even try it. It turns out that these fourth graders really do not like ricotta.

Instructor: Cheese in the middle with the cheese on top?

STUDENT 3: The cheese in the middle. Parmesan is the best but that cheese in the middle… [laughter]

Instructor: Didn’t do it for you… OK what about you right here?

NARR (Ava): The student testers are tough critics —the chicken sliders and hummus don’t fare much better.

Luke: The un-breaded chicken slider, it got a 53%.

NARR (Ava): That’s Luke McGeown, senior menu specialist.

Luke: And then the hummus got a 63%. So in our standard, that’s usually failing.

Luke: But again, each class is different, each child is different. So tomorrow, when we have a school from the Bronx, they could pass these products with flying colors. It just depends.

Luke: This was a pretty great group. Actually, sometimes kids don’t listen so much. And sometimes they’re not very responsive and wanting to give us results back and their thoughts on it … so they were a very lively bunch so they were helpful with that kind of stuff so I thought it was really good day.

NARR (Ava): After the taste testing, students have the option of eating chicken tenders for lunch if they’re still hungry. As students munch on them, I’m curious to hear what they have to say about the whole experience.

NARR (Ava): What do you like most about being here?

Sadie (student): That you get to try new things that you haven’t had before and some of the things you’ve had before just in a different way. I feel really nice that they’re thinking about us. I just want to say thank you to them for letting us go here

Athena (student): Right now, I think it’s wonderful seeing the back story and how it was. I didn’t really like school lunch before. I always wanted home lunch, but now I think school lunch is better.

NARR (Ava): Some students are grateful to Elsa.

Athena: I just want to again thank Elsa for bringing us here because she’s the cause of this whole trip

Benson (student): This is a very good experience to be tasting foods for the New York City public schools. And I really appreciate the letter that she made. And maybe I’ll make a letter, too.

Alex: What would your letter say?

Benson 2: To bring fried chicken to the menu.

NARR (Ava): Before reporting this story, I had no idea that there was a process where the DOE listened to students’ voices and opinions about food. I find it exciting that officials are really listening to what students have to say on a micro and macro level — and it’s sweet to know that 4th graders still write letters.

HOST (Sanaa): That was PS Weekly Reporter, Ava Stryker-Robbins … Next up, we leave the school food test kitchen and head to a real one… after a short break.

MIDROLL: We hope you’re enjoying listening to P.S. Weekly as much as we enjoy making it! We spend a lot of time after school planning each episode, setting up, and conducting interviews, cutting the tape, writing scripts. It’s a long process, and totally worth it. But here’s the thing: We don’t have a bunch of money or millions of followers. So we’re counting on you, loyal listener, to help us get the word out! So take a few seconds, and send this link wherever you’re listening to three friends so they, too, can enjoy P.S. weekly. Thanks for your support!

Segment A2: Food

HOST (Sanaa): So: what do students think about the school lunches these days in a real cafeteria? Our reporter Jose Santana has the story.

NARR (Jose): It’s Plant Powered Friday Friday and I’m at the Bronx Latin High School cafeteria during their lunch period. The menu posted in the cafeteria says there should be a vegan kidney bean rajma, vegan cucumber salad, and vegan flatbread. But today, I see only one option on student trays and it’s not vegan: grilled cheese. And the students were not happy about the lunch that was served…

Justin (student): I’m not gonna lie, they’re kinda bad, and particularly the grilled cheese, uh, the cheese isn’t really that melted, I’ll just say that. It isn’t really grilled, you know.

Lambryann (student): Yeah, um, it’s very nasty. Like, it’s so soggy. The quality is not qualiting.

Joseph (student): We got a grilled cheese joint. Feel me? Um, it’s not the best, but it ain’t the worst. Give it a 5.7 out of 10.

Marcus (student): I say this is like a good 6 out of 10. 6 out of 10? Yeah, that’s solid.

NARR (Jose): So typically, do they only have one option? Like in terms of variety?

Justin: Yeah, I mean sometimes they’ll have two at most but mostly it’s pretty bad and we don’t really have a lot of options like they’ve been literally having mozzarella sticks for like two weeks straight. Like we only been having mozzarella sticks. We haven’t had a variety of choices. So it’s been kind of bad.

Jose: Like mozzarella sticks every day?

Justin: Every single day.

Jose: That’s crazy.

Franklin: I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s been the same thing every day, every week. I haven’t seen no change. I know there’s a chart over there, but that chart, The chart is not relating to what’s being given out. Cause they be giving the same thing every day, every week, the same food. I’m tired of the mozzarella sticks and the dumplings. It’s the same thing.

Lambryann: We just been getting mozzarella sticks with that nasty (expletive) marinara sauce and cold, hard peanut butter and jelly.

Jose: Okay, so I don’t know if you guys know but the mayor is forcing schools to make every Friday vegan food. What do you guys think about that?

Ethan (student): Me personally, I don’t like vegan food. feel like they should give us a option of like, like different like, like stations of vegan and then non vegan.

Justin: My thoughts about it is, if you want to promote health, that’s cool, but also give the kids what they like as well, you know?

Joseph: I love my vegans, but come on now, get some meat on the menu.

Jose: Have you noticed like any other students react certain ways with like the food or any, like, stories or experiences?

Justin: I mean, absolutely. I’ve seen, uh, I’ve seen people literally complain and ask the lunch ladies here, like, what’s the problem? I’ve seen people, um, literally just grab a tray, maybe take an apple or something, and then just throw the food out cause they only want one thing and you can’t get one thing without getting the other. So, it’s just a total waste of food.

Joseph: Yeah. I ain’t gonna lie. They’d be picking up the food and throwing it out cause that [expletive] is [expletive]. They be like, playing around with it, turning it into a piece of, throwing it at each other.

Lambryann: I done witnessed people go on line and then like come like literally to the end of the line, open their food, see what it is, and just go straight to the garbage because it looks so unappetizing.

Jose: So how does that affect you, like, coming to school, you’re expecting lunch, and then you’re disappointed?

Lambryann: It affects me because, when you’re really hungry, like, you know, you can feel physical pain or like a headache, especially that you’re in school all day. You need energy, and like, food, which is fuel for your body. And like, when you come here, you think, oh, at least a decent breakfast or a decent lunch. No, everybody’s just starving.

Franklin: And I feel like it’s really affecting us and how we do in class for real. Cause, you know what you eat really makes you what you are.

Joseph: School on an empty stomach is not valid, bro, at all. Feel me?

Jose: So what do you think could be improved, if anything?

Justin: I think what could be improved is maybe give like more of like an option type choice like maybe um, not only grilled cheese, but there’s so many other things you could do like maybe rice and like just other options. You don’t have to just have things that people don’t really like and enjoy.

Danny: Everything could be improved, you know, like nothing’s perfect, you know. The food is just like straight like mid, you know. Could be worse, could be better.

Lambryann: If they just, like, spent more time cooking the food, than just warming it up, and put more effort into making the food, it would actually be good. Like, it’d just be looking like they just slapped a piece of bread on a plate and called it a day, you know?

NARR (Jose): We reached out to an Assistant Principal of the Bronx Latin High School, Ms. Anna Nelson, to ask why the menu didn’t match what the students are actually offered for lunch. And she had this to say…

Ms. Nelson: So, what I have learned from the past is that the DOE has a menu, and that when schools are ordering, some of the menu options might not be available, and they’re given alternative options to order. And so even if it’s on the DOE menu, when they go into place to order, it might basically be like, we’re all out of this item, like, they have a limited number of whatever the item is. And so our school has to substitute it with another item.

NARR (Jose): Thank you to Lambryann Acevedo, Joseph Cruz, Ethan Leon, Franklyn Lora, Marcus Maisonet, Danny Martinez, and Justin Rivera for speaking with P.S. Weekly.

HOST (Sanaa): Once again, that was Jose Santana.

HOST (Sanaa): So far, we’ve focused on school cafeteria food, but a lot of students across the city bring their lunch to school. For our final story today, reporter Santana Roach looks into an equity issue that impacts those students: Microwaves.

Segment B: Microwaves

HOST (Sanaa): Heating things up for P.S. Weekly, here’s Santana…

NARR Santana: Do you have access to a microwave at your school?

Student 1: Well, not really…

Adjanae (Student): When I bring my cup of noodles and I’m not allowed to use a microwave, it aggravates me.

STUDENT 1: You can maybe ask a teacher permission for it and they might be like, yeah, you can use it like, because it’s really close to them.

NARR Santana: So what is it like to not have access to a microwave?

STUDENT 2: It was not too long ago, and I brung noodles. And I asked like 3 teachers and they wouldn’t let me use it. And I started crying and I called my mom.

NARR (Santana): I’m here at my school Frederick Douglass Academy II, talking to students about a very specific dilemma that I can relate to… See, I don’t always want to eat the school lunch and not to scrutinize it, but the combinations are sometimes–questionable… I started to think about having my mom’s home-cooked meals for lunch.

NARR (Santana): But to do that, I need a microwave. And many schools in the city don’t have a microwave available for student use.

NARR (Santana): So, this may come as a surprise to some of you listening to this show, but we students often resort to asking our teachers or counselors to heat our food. We have to go to their office and bother them while they’re working to make the request. And some students are more comfortable doing that than others.

NARR (Santana): It’s a nuisance for both teachers, and for students.

Mr. Afriyie: I know many students. Have come to me during lunchtime, or found others looking to heat food up. And they find their way. I think there, there’s access definitely in the building to microwaves.

NARR (Santana): This is my principal, Osei Owusu-Afriyie. Even HE has had to experience this annoying dance.

NARR (Santana): A simple solution would be to give the students access to their own microwave.

NARR (Santana): So, why don’t students have access to a communal microwave?

Mr. Afriyie: Having a microwave down in the cafeteria has never been an official request from students. Um, so I think possibly that it’s not something that we have like deeply explored about how to make that work.

NARR (Santana): So, perhaps this issue of microwave access is simply an issue students haven’t brought up.

NARR (Santana): Students at Beacon High School also had a similar problem… And guess what… their PTA donated their students a microwave a few years ago.

Kelli: Yes, the Beacon PTA purchased a microwave for students -- maybe 2 years ago. It was placed in the cafeteria for student use.

NARR (Santana): This is Kelli Henry, Beacon’s PTA Co-Vice President.

NARR (Santana): I spoke with my fellow PS Weekly producer Bernie Carmona, who happens to be a student at Beacon–and occasionally in need of a microwave.

Santana: A couple of weeks ago I asked you to investigate to see whether or not there was a microwave in your cafeteria.

Bernie: I went to the cafeteria all the way in the back all the way in the corner, that’s where the microwave is.

Santana: So Bernie, how great is it to have a microwave? Because you know, my school doesn’t have free access to a microwave.

Bernie: Yeah, I know that like kids from other schools don’t have access to these microwaves. I think it’s very convenient for me. Mainly because I have left overs from home sometimes. And I think just bringing that to school and having the access to go to the cafeteria and it being there for me to use whenever I want. Having free access to a microwave will definitely come with managing and creating new rules for students that want to use the microwave.

NARR (Santana): I went back to Mr. Afriyie, to tell him about the Beacon students and their PTA-bought microwave, to see what he thought and whether he would consider providing one for our school.

Mr. Afriyie: So we would have to figure out like, how we would actually acquire one. And then we’d also have to discuss some of the safety protocols. Right? If it’s not used properly, it can cause some significant damage or injury or whatnot. So we have to have to look into all of that as well as protocols around how to clean it, and maintain it? Who brings it out? That it’s being used and maintained in a way that everyone can have a consistent and quality access to it. If that is something that our student council wants us to pursue, then we would look into see how we could make that work.

NARR (Santana): Huh, it’s interesting that the only reason why we haven’t had a microwave–is because we haven’t thought to officially ask– even though we have been directly asking teachers to use theirs.

NARR (Santana): Perhaps this sounds like a trivial issue. But students–especially students with dietary needs–might need access to a working microwave.

NARR (Santana): I plan to continue advocating for a microwave to be placed in my school, and I hope some of you who face similar issues take action and speak up about them too …it might be easier than you thought.

HOST (Sanaa): Thanks for listening to this episode. I’d say my fellow reporters ate. Students: we’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences related to school food. Have a story to share? Email us at pseekly@chalkbeat.org.

And P.S.: We’re back next Wednesday with an episode about mental health that you don’t want to miss.

Preview P.S Weekly episode 8 CLIP:

Derry: “It was like because of her like fear or anxiety, or like her trauma, like because of it, it’s holding me back from having possibly a better experience, and so she never allowed us to take that leap of faith, for that reason, it just made me very angry throughout the years where I wasn’t able to properly get help.”

HOST: Until then… class dismissed!

CREDITS

HOST (Sanaa): PS Weekly is a collaboration between The Bell and Chalkbeat, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation, The Summerfield Foundation, FJC, and Hindenburg Systems.

This episode was hosted by me, Sanaa Stokes.

Producers for this episode were: Ava Stryker-Robbins, Jose Santana, AND Santana Roach, with reporting help from Chalkbeat reporter Alex Zimmerman.

Our marketing lead this week was Sabrina DuQuesnay.

Our executive producer for the show is JoAnn DeLuna.

Santana: Executive editors include Amy Zimmer AND Taylor McGraw.

Additional production and reporting support was provided by Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mira Gordon, and our friends at Chalkbeat.

Special thanks to our interns Miriam Galicia and Makenna Turner and our friends at chalkbeat.

A big shout out to our mentors!

Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

And the jingle you heard at the beginning of this episode was created by the one and only: Erica Huang.

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time!

After a child’s death, California weighs rules for physical education during extreme weather

2024-05-15T09:07:00+00:00

LAKE ELSINORE, California — Yahushua Robinson was an energetic boy who jumped and danced his way through life. Then, a physical education teacher instructed the 12-year-old to run outside on a day when the temperature climbed to 107 degrees.

“We lose loved ones all the time, but he was taken in a horrific way,” his mother, Janee Robinson, said from the family’s Inland Empire home, about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles. “I would never want nobody to go through what I’m going through.”

The day her son died, Robinson, who teaches physical education, kept her elementary school students inside, and she had hoped her children’s teachers would do the same.

The Riverside County Coroner’s Bureau ruled that Yahushua died on Aug. 29 of a heart defect, with heat and physical exertion as contributing factors. His death at Canyon Lake Middle School came on the second day of an excessive heat warning, when people were advised to avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors.

Yahushua’s family is supporting a bill in California that would require the state Department of Education to create guidelines that govern physical activity at public schools during extreme weather, including setting threshold temperatures for when it’s too hot or too cold for students to exercise or play sports outside. If the measure becomes law, the guidelines will have to be in place by Jan. 1, 2026.

Many states have adopted protocols to protect student athletes from extreme heat during practices. But the California bill is broader and would require educators to consider all students throughout the school day and in any extreme weather, whether they’re doing jumping jacks in fourth period or playing tag during recess. It’s unclear if the bill will clear a critical committee vote scheduled for May 16.

“Yahushua’s story, it’s very touching. It’s very moving. I think it could have been prevented had we had the right safeguards in place,” said state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Bakersfield Democrat and one of the bill’s authors. “Climate change is impacting everyone, but it’s especially impacting vulnerable communities, especially our children.”

Last year marked the planet’s warmest on record, and extreme weather is becoming more frequent and severe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Even though most heat deaths and illnesses are preventable, about 1,220 people in the United States are killed by extreme heat every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Young children are especially susceptible to heat illness because their bodies have more trouble regulating temperature, and they rely on adults to protect them from overheating. A person can go from feeling dizzy or experiencing a headache to passing out, having a seizure, or going into a coma, said Chad Vercio, a physician and the division chief of general pediatrics at Loma Linda University Health.

“It can be a really dangerous thing,” Vercio said of heat illness. “It is something that we should take seriously and figure out what we can do to avoid that.”

It’s unclear how many children have died at school from heat exposure. Eric Robinson, 15, had been sitting in his sports medicine class learning about heatstroke when his sister arrived at his high school unexpectedly the day their brother died.

“They said, ‘OK, go home, Eric. Go home early.’ I walked to the car and my sister’s crying. I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I can’t believe that my little brother’s gone. That I won’t be able to see him again. And he’d always bugged me, and I would say, ‘Leave me alone.’”

That morning, Eric had done Yahushua’s hair and loaned him his hat and chain necklace to wear to school.

Yahushua Robinson’s friends sent cards, drawings, and messages after the 12-year-old died last August with heat and physical exertion as contributing factors.

As temperatures climbed into the 90s that morning, a physical education teacher instructed Yahushua to run on the blacktop. His friends told the family that the sixth grader had repeatedly asked the teacher for water but was denied, his parents said.

The school district has refused to release video footage to the family showing the moment Yahushua collapsed on the blacktop. He died later that day at the hospital.

Melissa Valdez, a Lake Elsinore Unified School District spokesperson, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Schoolyards can reach dangerously high temperatures on hot days, with asphalt sizzling up to 145 degrees, according to findings by researchers at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Some school districts, such as San Diego Unified and Santa Ana Unified, have hot weather plans or guidelines that call for limiting physical activity and providing water to kids. But there are no statewide standards that K-12 schools must implement to protect students from heat illness.

Under the bill, the California Department of Education must set temperature thresholds requiring schools to modify students’ physical activities during extreme weather, such as heat waves, wildfires, excessive rain, and flooding. Schools would also be required to come up with plans for alternative indoor activities, and staff must be trained to recognize and respond to weather-related distress.

California has had heat rules on the books for outdoor workers since 2005, but it was a latecomer to protecting student athletes, according to the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, which is named after a Minnesota Vikings football player who died from heatstroke in 2001. By comparison, Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, this spring signed a law preventing cities and counties from creating their own heat protections for outdoor workers, has the best protections for student athletes, according to the institute.

Douglas Casa, a professor of kinesiology and the chief executive officer of the institute, said state regulations can establish consistency about how to respond to heat distress and save lives.

“The problem is that each high school doesn’t have a cardiologist and doesn’t have a thermal physiologist and doesn’t have a sickling expert,” Casa said of the medical specialties for heat illness.

In 2022, California released an Extreme Action Heat Plan that recommended state agencies “explore implementation of indoor and outdoor heat exposure rules for schools,” but neither the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, nor lawmakers have adopted standards.

Lawmakers last year failed to pass legislation that would have required schools to implement a heat plan and replace hot surfaces, such as cement and rubber, with lower-heat surfaces, such as grass and cool pavement. That bill, which drew opposition from school administrators, stalled in committee, in part over cost concerns.

Eric Robinson remembers his son Yahushua Robinson, 12, who died in August after a physical education instructor told him to run outside on the blacktop during the sweltering heat.

Naj Alikhan, a spokesperson for the Association of California School Administrators, said the new bill takes a different approach and would not require structural and physical changes to schools. The association has not taken a position on the measure, and no other organization has registered opposition.

The Robinson family said children’s lives ought to outweigh any costs that might come with preparing schools to deal with the growing threat of extreme weather. Yahushua’s death, they say, could save others.

“I really miss him. I cry every day,” said Yahushua’s father, Eric Robinson. “There’s no one day that go by that I don’t cry about my boy.”

This article was produced by KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. KFF Health News is the publisher of California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

NYC schools could lose 400 nurses as federal relief funds expire

2024-05-14T00:39:41+00:00

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New York City public schools could lose hundreds of nurses next year, as the city faces the expiration of billions of dollars in one-time federal COVID relief funds.

For years, many education programs have been propped up by the federal funds, including $65 million that supported roughly 400 contracted nurses, some of whom provide care at buildings that previously lacked a school nurse. But as that money dries up later this year, the future of those nurses and other school programs funded by the federal dollars remains uncertain.

Last month, officials announced the city’s Education Department would see its budget shrink by 2.4%, or $808 million, in the next fiscal year — largely spurred by the expiring federal funds. With the disappearance of the relief money, Mayor Eric Adams’ latest budget proposal allocated more than $500 million in city and state funds to preserve some of the programs it funded, including hundreds of social workers, staffers in homeless shelters, and preschool for 3-year-olds. Others, however, remain at risk.

Currently, every public school has a nurse or school-based health center, according to city officials. If a school nurse calls out sick or is otherwise unavailable, then a contracted nurse is deployed to that school to provide coverage.

“We’re grateful to the stimulus funding that has allowed us to ensure every school has a school nurse on site, and we will continue to advocate for and prioritize this need through the budget process,” said Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for the city’s Education Department.

Prior to the pandemic, at least 137 schools serving roughly 70,000 students did not have a school nurse, according to Advocates for Children, an organization that works on behalf of low-income families.

Without a school nurse in the building, kids with particular health needs like those with asthma or diabetes are at a higher risk of experiencing complications, said Anna MacEwan, a former school nurse who previously worked at a K-12 campus in downtown Brooklyn. It also shifts further responsibilities onto teachers, she added.

“You have to have a nurse in the building … to manage all the things that come up,” MacEwan said.

Nurses also provide families with additional peace of mind, said Noelia Gomez, an after-school program director with Good Shepherd Services, a nonprofit organization that supports children and families.

“Having nurses gives families a safeguard,” she said. “Somebody that they can trust — that’s going to care for their child like they would at home.”

She noted her program serves more than 500 students at P.S. 246 in the Bronx, each of whom may at some point need medical attention or support.

“It’s a very scary thought,” Gomez said. “What happens if the nurse isn’t there?”

With the mayor’s proposed budget still subject to negotiations with the City Council, advocates and local lawmakers are continuing to push for funding for initiatives that have relied on the federal dollars. The city must finalize its budget by July 1.

Council members will discuss the city’s Education Department budget at an Education Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

NYC schools can now donate cafeteria food to fight hunger and reduce waste. Here’s how.

2024-05-10T19:30:40+00:00

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New York City’s Education Department recently launched a program allowing schools to donate unused packaged food to local food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters — an effort nearly two years in the making.

After a small group of schools piloted a food donation program, officials trained roughly 400 school food managers, supervisors, and directors earlier this year on how to set up their own programs, Chalkbeat has learned.

Every school will have the opportunity to opt into the effort, officials said. The Office of Food and Nutrition Services will help schools set up the procedures and equipment for donating untouched food, while a school’s administration will facilitate the donation to school community members or local pantries.

The program is gearing up at a critical moment, as pandemic-era family benefits dry up and childhood hunger is a growing concern. New York City has seen a 100% increase in the number of visits to food pantries by children and their families from pre-pandemic levels and 1 in 5 children don’t always know where their next meal will come from, according to food rescue group City Harvest.

Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams plans to reduce funding by about 56% for an emergency food program that works with about 500 community kitchens and food pantries citywide.

The school-based food donation program was “informed by conversations with several food pantries and best practices from existing school-based food pantries and ad hoc student-led food donation programs,” said Jenna Lyle, an Education Department spokesperson.

Since the program is just getting started, officials do not yet have data on participating schools, but said they plan to track how many opt into it.

Students, advocates, and elected officials have long tried to push the nation’s largest school system — which serves roughly 880,000 meals a day — to come up with a plan to divert food waste from landfills and into the hands of hungry New Yorkers. A Department of Sanitation study found that more than 40,000 tons of trash from New York City’s school buildings can be recycled, composted, or reused.

“There’s so much food being wasted,” said Eila Gandhi, a student at East Side Middle school.

Through the Middle School Leadership Council in Manhattan’s District 2, Elia has been working with Zoya Baulin, another East Side student, and Anya Bravin, from the Clinton School, on advocating for leftover packaged food from schools to go to homeless shelters and other anti-hunger organizations. But they kept hitting roadblocks, finding complicated rules and strict guidelines for donating the food and for shelters accepting the food.

They were happy to hear about the Education Department’s new program and are in touch with their principals about how their schools might participate.

“We feel like it could help so many different groups of people,” Anya said. “It can help people who have food insecurity. It could help schools get rid of this food. It can help homeless shelters to not have to feed so many people from their own money, and it could also help the environment.”

The Education Department’s food service team has been working to reduce excess food or leftovers whenever possible, said Lyle. “We applaud our students who are advocating for their communities and looking to support their local organizations and shelters.”

Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York, was encouraged to hear about the food donation program — especially now. Her advocacy organization recently polled public school families and found that nearly 9 in 10 reported that food prices were rising faster than their incomes.

“We look forward to learning more about this program expansion and the ways it can relieve the difficult choices too many families are forced to make between food, rent, and other necessities,” Sabella said in a statement.

Here’s what schools should know about participating in the program.

What’s the first step a school can take to participate in the program?

A school needs to set up what’s called a “share table,” where students can discard unopened packaged food or whole pieces of fruit from their trays, letting their peers pick up the food if they’d like.

Because of federal school food reimbursement regulations for meals — which are free for all New York City public school students — kids cannot, for instance, just take a cookie or an apple, but instead must take a complete meal with a protein and other food items. Because of that, many kids often end up tossing a lot of untouched food.

Several schools already have share tables set up in their cafeterias as a way to reduce food waste. (Education Department officials said they are in the process of collecting data on which schools have share tables.)

What food items are eligible for donation?

Only food from share tables can be donated.

The food must be non-perishable or unspoiled and must be donated within 36 hours of being served.

Where will the food donations go?

School leaders have two options:

They can donate the food directly to their school community, with school leaders selecting students and families to participate, according to a January presentation given to schools. “[This] enables students and families in need, access to food right in their own schools,” the presentation stated. “This program will help to make balanced, nutritious meals a reality.”
They can partner with an established local community food pantry or program that serves New Yorkers in need. The school can work with an organization to determine the food pick-up or delivery system.

Who will run the program at a school?

Principals must identify a “designee” to oversee the program. The designee can be a school staffer or a school community volunteer, such as a parent or guardian.

Students may volunteer to assist and support the program under that person’s guidance.

How will the food get from a cafeteria to families or organizations?

After each meal, whoever is running the program will evaluate food items left on the cafeteria’s share table. They — or student volunteers— will then place all eligible food items in a designated refrigerator or milk chest.

Each shelf must then be labeled with the date the items were placed there. And at the end of the last meal served (some schools serve breakfast, lunch, and after-school snacks), the person overseeing the program must complete a “daily food donation receipt,” submitted to an assigned kitchen staff member.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

School lunch time is too short. Colorado lawmakers’ solution? A task force to make recommendations.

2024-04-12T17:48:16+00:00

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Anyelin Ortega told Colorado lawmakers recently that the lunch line at her high school can be 25 minutes long, often leaving the 17-year-old only five minutes to finish her food.

“It is very disrespectful and demanding for any person to be rushed from eating,” said Ortega, who attends a Denver charter school. “After lunch, I have found myself feeling very anxious and irritated from the lack of energy from having an empty stomach.”

Ortega was among the students and advocates who testified in favor of a bill that would create a “time-to-eat” task force to evaluate topics including how much time the state’s school districts are giving students to eat lunch and whether students have recess before or afterward.

Colorado does not mandate schools set aside a certain number of minutes for lunch. Those decisions are left to school districts or individual schools.

The task force would examine the outcomes associated with those decisions, such as students’ academic performance, their behavior, and how much food is wasted because students can’t finish their lunches. The task force would write a report with recommendations for school districts to adopt policies “that allow for increased time to eat,” the bill says.

“It breaks my heart when I see students repeatedly pick up their tray and shovel a few more bites into their mouths as they hold (it) over a trash can and throw away half of their food,” Shannon Thompson of the Colorado School Nutrition Association told lawmakers at a hearing last week. “As a registered dietitian, I work in school nutrition to feed kids, not trash cans.”

Rep. Jenny Willford, a Northglenn Democrat, said House Bill 1301 is based on her personal experience as a parent. When her son started in elementary school, Willford said he was having behavior issues after lunch. She said she worked with the school to figure out the root cause: Her son would play hard at recess but then not have enough time to eat lunch.

“You can’t learn when your tummy is hungry,” Willford said.

House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican, said she agreed to co-sponsor the bill because she had a similar experience with her own children.

In addition to hungry students and wasted food, Pugliese pointed out another problem with short lunch periods: wasted money. Colorado voters approved a measure in 2022 making school meals free for all students, and this is the first year it’s in place. But more students are eating than expected, and the state is having to shore up the program with extra funding.

“From a fiscally conservative perspective, we don’t want to be investing money in food that’s being thrown away,” Pugliese said.

Cade Nelson, a sophomore at Legend High School in Parker, told lawmakers that he supports the free meals program. But he said it’s caused the lunch lines at his school to grow.

“The free lunch essentially does not matter because I’ve seen people run out of time to eat,” Nelson said. “If we had more time to eat, I think everybody would be much happier.”

The bill passed the House Education Committee last Thursday on a 10-1 vote. Most of the pushback and hesitation was not related to the task force but to a separate grant program in the bill meant to promote more physical activity and play during the school day.

An association of Colorado physical education teachers had concerns that the grant program could supplant P.E. teachers. But the committee approved an amendment requiring schools to have a P.E. teacher on staff in order to apply for the grant funding.

Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Parker Republican, was the only lawmaker to suggest scrapping the time-to-eat task force in favor of a mandate that school districts lengthen lunch times.

“Why not do a mandate?” Hartsook said. “They need more time to eat, they need more time to play. Duh. We all know that. So why are we waiting?”

But Willford said school scheduling is a tricky balance that must take into account the amount of instructional time required by the state. She said she worried a mandate would cause problems.

“If we move straight to a mandate, it becomes a bit of an unfunded mandate for local school districts,” Willford said. “My hope is that the task force comes back with a number of unique models of how we can implement longer periods for school lunch that is reflective of the diversity of schools we have across our state.”

Hartsook voted yes on the bill. The sole no vote was from Republican Rep. Don Wilson.

The bill says the task force would make its recommendations by Feb. 1, 2025. Task force members would include students, parents, educators, school board members, teachers union representatives, and representatives from community organizations.

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Is ‘Baby Olivia’ headed to a school near you? Bills would allow fetal development video screenings.

2024-03-28T16:03:14+00:00

This story was originally published by The 19th and is republished under a Creative Commons license. Sign up for The 19th’s newsletter here.

Aftyn Behn hoped that this would be the year the Tennessee legislature was free of bills related to the anti-abortion movement. Since it is now illegal to terminate pregnancies in the state, the Democrat figured her Republican counterparts in the Tennessee House would concentrate their efforts on causes other than restricting reproductive rights.

But she was mistaken: The House on March 18 passed the “Baby Olivia Act,” which gives public schools the greenlight to screen a fetal development video produced by a controversial anti-abortion group. A few days later, the bill made it out of the Tennessee Senate Education committee, which has recommended that the Senate pass it as well.

“I’ve been in the trenches fighting against anti-abortion legislation and policy for a long time, and I really just thought this year that they could just let it go,” Behn said. “And it just continues to get worse. They’re just trying to find little holes where they can move forward with their anti-abortion legislation, and it happens to be in curriculum that would be adopted across the state.”

Tennessee is one of several states — including North Dakota, Iowa, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri — that has introduced or advanced legislation permitting public schools to screen “Meet Baby Olivia,” a three-minute computer-generated video first released in 2021 that critics call misleading and manipulative. North Dakota passed legislation allowing schools to show the video last year, but West Virginia’s “Baby Olivia” bill failed to pass before the legislative session there ended this month.

The video was created by the organization Live Action, which objects to abortion for any reason and has captured secret footage at abortion clinics while advocating for Planned Parenthood to be defunded. The organization, founded by anti-abortion activist Lila Rose, wants students nationwide to watch “Meet Baby Olivia” in school. The bills that have advanced in various states would require schools ranging from elementary to high school to show the fetal development video or one like it.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which includes over 60,000 members, has raised concerns about the video, noting that it calculates gestational age two weeks earlier than standard and depicts fetal development as more advanced than it is. Critics say the video also misrepresents when a fetal heartbeat can be detected and how early one can survive outside the womb. Some conservative medical groups, meanwhile, have endorsed it.

Since most states do not require medically accurate comprehensive sex ed, exposing students to misinformation about human reproduction is concerning because youth may not have access to materials that counter it. Experts told The 19th this is especially concerning paired with widespread book bans across the country.

Anti-abortion activists Lila Rose (left) and Kristan Hawkins pose for a portrait on the Supreme Court steps in Washington, D.C., in 2014.

“‘Baby Olivia’ is a medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life in the womb,” Rose said in a statement to The 19th. “Every student in our nation deserves access to best-in-class education on human development. It is tragic that basic facts about human biology are so controversial for abortion supporters in 2024.”

She added that the video aims to educate viewers in a straightforward way. “Every fact in the video has been exhaustively sourced and corroborated and is similar to what you would find in an embryology textbook,” she said.

Mazie Stilwell, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa, disagrees. The Iowa House in late February passed legislation that would allow public schools to show “Baby Olivia.” Stillwell said that the video reflects the beliefs of Live Action rather than evidence-based science. “For the major medical organizations to all be firmly against this propaganda tells you everything you need to know,” Stillwell said. “This video very intentionally misleads the audience by using a dating structure that contradicts what is used in medical practice. They talked about weeks from fertilization rather than the way that pregnancy is actually calculated, which is from the last menstrual period.”

Stillwell said the video sensationalizes gestures, such as hand clasping or thumb sucking, that fetuses make. The point, she said, is to manipulate and appeal to a young audience. As “Meet Baby Olivia” has drawn widespread criticism, states including Iowa and Tennessee have amended their legislation so that schools are not required to show that video specifically but any fetal development video like it. The change in legislative wording, however, does not actually prohibit public schools from showing the Live Action video. That means schools will likely choose that video to show, as “Baby Olivia” is the most prominent fetal development video of its kind, critics say.

Behn tried unsuccessfully to amend the Tennessee legislation to bar schools from showing the Live Action video. In Iowa, legislators amended the bill to remove specific reference to “Baby Olivia,” but it still requires schools to show a computer-generated fetal development video, state Rep. Molly Buck said.

“In removing the specific reference to Live Action’s ‘Baby Olivia,’ what the bill sponsor did was put in the requirement that this computer-generated video depict the humanity of the unborn child,” Stillwell said. “Now that phrase is not defined anywhere. There’s no indication of how to measure the humanity. So, by our reading of the bill, the problem remains that the only piece of curriculum that could actually meet this prescriptive requirement from the state remains Live Action’s ‘Baby Olivia’ video.”

Such legislation, Stillwell said, constitutes an effort to put anti-choice propaganda in schools.

Educators have pushed back against “Baby Olivia” legislation, in part because they object to politicians mandating curriculum, arguing that is the domain of state boards of education or similar entities. The Iowa State Education Association has said that it opposes “the politicization of any curriculum.” Moreover, Iowa education code prohibits requiring exact instructional methodologies or materials to achieve curriculum goals.

Buck, who has taught elementary school in Iowa for 28 years, said that it is troublesome when legislators implement laws outlining exactly what must be taught in classrooms.

“Schools tend to stick to the letter of the law,” she said. “A danger of prescribing very specific curriculum in the legislature is that it starts to scare school districts about, ‘Well, can we step outside of that at all? Can we teach more than that?’”

Plus, Iowa does not require schools to offer comprehensive sex ed, so students may not learn anything about human reproduction beyond what they see in “Baby Olivia,” Buck said.

“When we talk about indoctrination of kids, we have to be mindful of both sides,” she said. “We don’t want the ‘liberal left’ indoctrinating our kids, and we don’t want the right side indoctrinating our kids either. So our kids need factual health information, not fictional.”

Heather Corinna, author of “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College,” said that the silver lining may be that many young people get their information about sex through digital means, making them likely to stumble across online resources that counter any factual inaccuracies about reproduction they come across in class.

“Young people know the internet exists,” said Corinna, founder and director of Scarleteen, a sex education support organization and website. “We have millions of young people that come to Scarleteen all the time, and coming to fact check [what] they heard in sex ed is a common reason.”

Sex ed has been terrible for years, but students aren’t stupid, Corinna said. Many of them expect it to be rooted in propaganda, which Corinna considers “Baby Olivia” to be. “That’s what it is,” they said. “It’s produced like political propaganda.”

Corinna, who once worked in an abortion clinic, takes issue with how Live Action stages fetal development and describes fetuses. “They say they can recognize lullabies and stories,” they said. “No one can do a test on someone in utero to find out if they recognize something; that’s not a thing. It’s sheer projection.”

Sarah Dean, an English teacher at a public charter school in the Nashville area, objects to the video and to the fact that the sponsor of the Tennessee bill, state Rep. Gino Bulso, is a lawyer, not an educator. She pointed out that Bulso has sponsored legislation that supports censorship in schools and targets transgender students, gender-affirming care and drag performers, among other controversial policies. Bulso also sponsored the bill to expel three Democrats for protesting gun violence after a school shooting in Nashville last year. A representative for Bulso told The 19th he was not available for an interview.

Dean characterized his pattern of legislation as a systematic effort to promote a specific ideology and discriminate against individuals “who don’t fit within that,” she said.

The Baby Olivia Act, Dean continued, devalues the expertise of teaching professionals. “We don’t do that to other professionals,” she said. “But when it comes to teachers, people think, ‘Well, I went to school, so I must know.’ But there’s a lot more pedagogy that goes into teaching and being an educator, so it’s somewhat like arrogance and also just out of touch, impractical, for these people to be making bills about education because they don’t honestly know what the impact is going to be for students and for teachers.”

The goal of “Baby Olivia,” Behn said, is to emotionally manipulate young people who are or may fall pregnant into ruling out abortion. Since Tennessee has a number of health care gaps — including a lack of access to reproductive health care, high rates of parental mortality, and a large number of crisis pregnancy centers, Behn said, she considers the undertones of the video to be “nefarious.” In addition to “Baby Olivia,” Tennessee also recently introduced legislation that would make it a crime for an adult to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent. Given the state’s political climate, Behn is particularly concerned about youth in the state’s rural areas who may not only lack resources but also have information gaps about pregnancy and reproduction.

“The intention of this video is to show any kids who might be pregnant in the school system that the fetus is living and breathing, and that they’re better off keeping the baby,” Behn said.

But Corinna is not convinced that anti-abortion materials keep people from ending unwanted pregnancies. If they have the opportunity to do so, they typically terminate their pregnancies anyway, Corinna said, because they’re in an unhealthy romantic relationship, financially ill-equipped to raise a child, or have a medical issue, among myriad other reasons.

“More times than not, in my experience, that person, if they need an abortion, they still go have one. They just feel awful about it,” Corinna said. “What keeps people from having abortions is an inability to go get one.”

How the anti-vaccine movement pits parental rights against public health

2024-03-12T20:59:32+00:00

This story originally appeared on KFF Health News and is republished with permission.

Gayle Borne has fostered more than 300 children in Springfield, Tennessee. She’s cared for kids who have rarely seen a doctor — kids so neglected that they cannot speak. Such children are now even more vulnerable because of a law Tennessee passed last year that requires the direct consent of birth parents or legal guardians for every routine childhood vaccination. Foster parents, social workers, and other caregivers cannot provide permission.

In January, Borne took a foster baby, born extremely premature at just over 2 pounds, to her first doctor’s appointment. The health providers said that without the consent of the child’s mother, they couldn’t vaccinate her against diseases like pneumonia, hepatitis B, and polio. The mother hasn’t been located, so a social worker is now seeking a court order to permit immunizations. “We are just waiting,” Borne said. “Our hands are tied.”

Tennessee’s law has also stymied grandmothers and other caregivers who accompany children to routine appointments when parents are at work, in drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinics, or otherwise unavailable. The law claims to “give parents back the right to make medical decisions for their children.”

Framed in the rhetoric of choice and consent, it is one of more than a dozen recent and pending pieces of legislation nationwide that pit parental freedom against community and children’s health. In actuality, they create obstacles to vaccination, the foundation of pediatric care.

Such policies have another effect. They seed doubt about vaccine safety in a climate rife with medical misinformation. The trend has exploded as politicians and social media influencers make false claims about risks, despite studies showing otherwise.

Doctors traditionally give caregivers vaccine information and get their permission before delivering more than a dozen childhood immunizations that defend against measles, polio, and other debilitating diseases.

But now, Tennessee’s law demands that birth parents attend routine appointments and sign consent forms for every vaccine given over two or more years. “The forms could have a chilling effect,” said Jason Yaun, a Memphis pediatrician and past president of the Tennessee chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“People who promote parental rights on vaccines tend to downplay the rights of children,” said Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy researcher at the University of California Law-San Francisco.

Drop in routine vaccination rates

Misinformation coupled with a parental rights movement that shifts decision-making away from public health expertise has contributed to the lowest childhood vaccine rates in a decade.

This year, legislators in Arizona, Iowa, and West Virginia have introduced related consent bills. A “Parents’ Bill of Rights” amendment in Oklahoma seeks to ensure that parents know they can exempt their children from school vaccine mandates along with lessons on sex education and AIDS. In Florida, the medical skeptic leading the state’s health department recently defied guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by telling parents they could send unvaccinated children to a school during a measles outbreak.

Last year, Mississippi began allowing exemptions from school vaccine requirements for religious reasons because of a lawsuit funded by the Informed Consent Action Network, which is listed as a leading source of anti-vaccine disinformation by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. A post on ICAN’s website said it “could not be more proud” in Mississippi to “restore the right of every parent in this country to have his or her convictions respected and not trampled by the government.”

Even if some bills fail, Reiss fears, the revived parental rights movement may eventually abolish policies that require routine immunizations to attend school. At a recent campaign rally, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said, “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”

The movement dates to the wake of the 1918 influenza pandemic, when some parents pushed back against progressive reforms that required school attendance and prohibited child labor. Since then, tensions between state measures and parental freedom have occasionally flared over a variety of issues. Vaccines became a prominent one in 2021, as the movement found common ground with people skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines.

“The parental rights movement didn’t start with vaccines,” Reiss said, “but the anti-vaccine movement has allied themselves with it and has expanded their reach by riding on its coattails.”

When lawmakers silence health experts

In Tennessee, anti-vaccine activists and libertarian-leaning organizations railed against the state’s health department in 2021 when it recommended COVID vaccines to minors, following CDC guidance. Gary Humble, executive director of the conservative group Tennessee Stands, asked legislators to blast the health department for advising masks and vaccination, suggesting the department “could be dissolved and reconstituted at your pleasure.”

Backlash also followed a notice sent to doctors from Michelle Fiscus, then the state’s immunization director. She reminded them that they didn’t need parental permission to vaccinate consenting adolescents 14 or older, according to a decades-old state rule called the Mature Minor Doctrine.

In the weeks that followed, state legislators threatened to defund the health department and pressured it into scaling back COVID vaccine promotion, as revealed by The Tennessean. Fiscus was abruptly fired. “Today I became the 25th of 64 state and territorial immunization program directors to leave their position during this pandemic,” she wrote in a statement. “That’s nearly 40% of us.” Tennessee’s COVID death rate climbed to one of the nation’s highest by mid-2022.

By the time two state legislators introduced a bill to reverse the Mature Minor Doctrine, the health department was silent on the proposal. Despite obstacles for foster children who would require a court order for routine immunizations, Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services was silent, too.

Notably, the legislator who introduced the bill, Republican Rep. John Ragan, was among those simultaneously overseeing a review of the agency that would determine its leadership and budget for the coming years. “Children belong to their families, not the state,” said Ragan as he presented the bill at a state hearing in April 2023.

Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson spoke out against the bill. It “doesn’t take into account people and children who are neglected,” he told Ragan. “We are legislating from a point of privilege and not recognizing the people who are not privileged in this way.”

Rather than address such concerns, Ragan referenced a Supreme Court ruling in favor of parental rights in 2000. Specifically, judges determined that a mother had legal authority to decide who could visit her daughters. Yet the Supreme Court has also done the opposite. For instance, it sided against a legal guardian who removed her child from school to proselytize for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Still, Ragan swiftly won the majority vote. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed the bill in May, making it effective immediately. Deborah Lowen, then the deputy commissioner of child health at the Department of Children’s Services, was flooded with calls from doctors who now face jailtime and fines for vaccinating minors without adequate consent. “I was and remain very disheartened,” she said.

A right to health

Yaun, the Memphis pediatrician, said he was shaken as he declined to administer a first series of vaccines to an infant accompanied by a social worker. “That child is going into a situation where they are around other children and adults,” he said, “where they could be exposed to something we failed to protect them from.”

“We have had numerous angry grandparents in our waiting room who take kids to appointments because the parents are at work or down on their luck,” said Hunter Butler, a pediatrician in Springfield, Tennessee. “I once called a rehabilitation facility to find a mom and get her on the phone to get verbal consent to vaccinate her baby,” he said. “And it’s unclear if that was OK.”

Childhood immunization rates have dropped for three consecutive years in Tennessee. Nationwide, downward trends in measles vaccination led the CDC to estimate that a quarter million kindergartners are at risk of the highly contagious disease.

Communities with low vaccination rates are vulnerable as measles surges internationally. Confirmed measles cases in 2023 were almost double those in 2022 — a year in which the World Health Organization estimates that more than 136,000 people died from the disease globally. When travelers infected abroad land in communities with low childhood vaccination rates, the highly contagious virus can spread swiftly among unvaccinated people, as well as babies too young to be vaccinated and people with weakened immune systems.

“There’s a freedom piece on the other side of this argument,” said Caitlin Gilmet, communications director at the vaccine advocacy group SAFE Communities Coalition and Action Fund. “You should have the right to protect your family from preventable diseases.”

In late January, Gilmet and other child health advocates gathered in a room at the Tennessee Statehouse in Nashville, offering a free breakfast of fried chicken biscuits. They handed out flyers as legislators and their aides drifted in to eat. One pamphlet described the toll of a 2018-19 measles outbreak in Washington state that sickened 72 people, most of whom were unvaccinated, costing $76,000 in medical care, $2.3 million for the public health response, and an estimated $1 million in economic losses due to illness, quarantine, and caregiving.

Barb Dentz, an advocate with the grassroots group Tennessee Families for Vaccines, repeated that most of the state’s constituents support strong policies in favor of immunizations. Indeed, seven in 10 U.S. adults maintained that public schools should require vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella, in a Pew Research Center poll last year. But numbers have been dropping.

“Protecting kids should be such a no-brainer,” Dentz told Republican Rep. Sam Whitson, later that morning in his office. Whitson agreed and reflected on an explosion of anti-vaccine misinformation. “Dr. Google and Facebook have been such a challenge,” he said. “Fighting ignorance has become a full-time job.”

Whitson was among a minority of Republicans who voted against Tennessee’s vaccine amendment last year. “The parental rights thing has really taken hold,” he said, “and it can be used for and against us.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Cómo la muerte de un amigo hizo que adolescentes de Colorado se volvieran activistas contra las sobredosis

2024-03-05T15:30:41+00:00

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Gavinn McKinney amaba las zapatillas Nike, los fuegos artificiales y el sushi. Estudiaba Potawatomi, uno de los idiomas de sus ancestros nativos americanos. Le encantaba cargar a su sobrina y oler su aroma de bebé. En su cumpleaños número 15, el adolescente de Durango, Colorado, pasó una tarde fría de diciembre cortando leña para ayudar a vecinos que no podían pagar para tener calefacción en sus hogares.

McKinney casi llegó a su cumpleaños 16. Murió a causa de envenenamiento por fentanilo en casa de un amigo en diciembre de 2021. Sus amigos dicen que era la primera vez que probaba drogas duras.

A su servicio fue tanta gente que algunos tuvieron que quedarse fuera de la funeraria.

Ahora, sus compañeros están tratando de cimentar el legado de su amigo en una ley estatal. Recientemente testificaron ante legisladores estatales en apoyo a un proyecto de ley que ayudaron a redactar para asegurar que los estudiantes puedan llevar naloxona consigo en todo momento sin miedo a que sea confiscada o a ser sancionados.

Los distritos escolares tienden a tener políticas estrictas sobre medicamentos. Sin un permiso especial, los estudiantes de Colorado ni siquiera pueden llevar sus propias medicinas de emergencia, como un inhalador, y no se les permite compartirlas con otros.

“Nos dimos cuenta de que realmente podríamos lograr un cambio si nos esforzábamos de corazón”, dijo Niko Peterson, estudiante de último año en Animas High School en Durango y uno de los amigos de McKinney que ayudó a escribir el proyecto de ley. “Ser proactivo en lugar no hacer nada va a ser la mejor solución posible”.

Algunos distritos escolares o condados en California, Maryland y en otros lugares tienen reglas que permiten expresamente a los estudiantes de secundaria llevar naloxona. Pero Jon Woodruff, abogado gerente en la Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, dijo que no estaba al tanto de ninguna ley estatal como la que está considerando Colorado. La organización de Woodruff, que tiene su sede en Washington, DC, investiga y redacta borradores de proyectos legislativos sobre el uso de drogas.

La naloxona es un antagonista de los opioides que puede revertir una sobredosis. Disponible sin receta como un aerosol nasal, se la considera una protagonista clave en el freno a la epidemia de sobredosis por su uso en emergencias, pero solo una herramienta en una estrategia de prevención. (La gente a menudo se refiere a la naloxona como “Narcan”, uno de los nombres de marca más reconocibles, similar a lo que pasa con los pañuelos desechables, a los que, independientemente de su marca, se los llama “Kleenex”.)

El año pasado, la administración Biden respaldó una campaña publicitaria que alentaba a los jóvenes a llevar consigo el medicamento de emergencia.

Las leyes de acceso a la naloxona en la mayoría de los estados protegen a los buenos samaritanos, incluidos los jóvenes, de la responsabilidad si dañan accidentalmente a alguien mientras administran naloxona.

Pero sin políticas escolares que la permitan explícitamente, la capacidad de los estudiantes para llevar naloxona a clase queda en un área gris.

En 2022, Ryan Christoff trabajaba en Centaurus High School en Lafayette, Colorado, adonde también estudiaba una de sus hijas. En septiembre de ese año, sus compañeros de trabajo le confiscaron la naloxona a una compañera de clase de su hija.

“Ella no tenía nada más que el Narcan consigo, y se lo quitaron”, dijo Christoff, quien le había proporcionado el Narcan confiscado a esa estudiante y a muchos otros después que su hija casi muriera por envenenamiento por fentanilo. “Deberíamos querer que cada estudiante lo lleve consigo”.

Randy Barber, vocero del Distrito Escolar del Valle de Boulder, dijo que el incidente “fue un caso aislado y desde entonces hemos trabajado para asegurarnos de que las enfermeras estén alertas”. El distrito ahora anima a todos a considerar llevar naloxona, dijo.

Zoe Ramsey, estudiante de último año de secundaria de Durango, Colorado, testificó ante legisladores estatales en febrero sobre un proyecto de ley para aclarar que los estudiantes pueden portar naloxona, un medicamento que puede revertir las sobredosis de opioides.

La devastación de una comunidad se transforma en acción

En Durango, la muerte de McKinney golpeó duro a la comunidad.

Los amigos y familiares del joven dijeron que no consumía drogas duras. La única sustancia a la que era “adicto” era la salsa picante Tapatío, incluso llevaba un poco en el bolsillo a los juegos de los Rockies.

Después de la muerte de McKinney, la gente comenzó a hacerse tatuajes de la frase por la que era conocido, que estaba estampada en su sudadera favorita: “El amor es la cura”. Incluso algunos de sus profesores se la tatuaron.

Pero fueron los compañeros de clase, junto con sus amigos de otra escuela secundaria de la ciudad, quienes convirtieron su pérdida en un movimiento político. “Estamos haciendo que las cosas sucedan en su nombre”, dijo Peterson.

La tasa de mortalidad por envenenamiento a causa del fentanilo ha aumentado en los últimos años, con más de 1,500 niños y adolescentes en el país muertos el mismo año que McKinney.

La mayoría de los jóvenes que mueren por sobredosis no tienen antecedentes conocidos de consumo de opioides, y muchos de ellos probablemente pensaron que estaban tomando opioides recetados como OxyContin o Percocet, no las píldoras falsas recetadas que contienen cada vez más una dosis letal de fentanilo.

“Lo más probable es que el grupo más grande de adolescentes que están muriendo sean realmente adolescentes que están experimentando, en lugar de adolescentes que tienen un trastorno de uso de opioides de larga data”, observó Joseph Friedman, investigador de uso de sustancias en UCLA, a quien le gustaría ver que las escuelas proporcionen una educación precisa sobre drogas falsificadas, como con el plan de estudios Safety First de Stanford.

Permitir a los estudiantes llevar un medicamento de bajo riesgo que salva vidas es, en muchos aspectos, lo mínimo que las escuelas pueden hacer, dijo Friedman.

“Yo argumentaría que lo que las escuelas deberían estar haciendo es identificar a los adolescentes de alto riesgo y darles el Narcan para llevarlo a casa y enseñarles por qué es importante”, dijo Friedman.

En un artículo en The New England Journal of Medicine, Friedman identificó a Colorado como un área crítica para las muertes por sobredosis en adolescentes de secundaria, con una tasa de mortalidad de más del doble que la del país de 2020 a 2022.

“Cada vez más, el fentanilo se vende en forma de píldoras, y esto está sucediendo en gran medida en el Oeste”, dijo Friedman. “Creo que la crisis de sobredosis en adolescentes es un resultado directo de eso”.

Gavinn McKinney murió por envenenamiento con fentanilo en la casa de un amigo en diciembre de 2021. McKinney era parte del Clan del Trueno de la Nación Ciudadana Potawatomi. También tenía herencia Kickapoo y Assiniboine.

Si los legisladores de Colorado aprueban el proyecto de ley, “creo que es un paso realmente importante”, dijo Ju Nyeong Park, profesor asistente de medicina en la Universidad Brown, quien dirige un grupo de investigación centrado en cómo prevenir las sobredosis. “Espero que la Legislatura de Colorado lo haga y que también otros estados sigan el ejemplo”.

Park dijo que los programas integrales para analizar drogas en busca de contaminantes peligrosos, un mejor acceso a tratamientos basados en evidencia para adolescentes que desarrollan un trastorno por uso de sustancias, y la promoción de herramientas de reducción de daños también son importantes.

“Por ejemplo, hay una línea directa nacional llamada Never Use Alone (Nunca Uses Solo) a la que cualquiera puede llamar de manera anónima para ser supervisado de forma remota en caso de emergencia”, dijo.

Tomando el asunto en sus propias manos

Muchos distritos escolares de Colorado están capacitando al personal en cómo administrar naloxona y la tienen en las instalaciones escolares a través de un programa que les permite adquirirla del estado a poco o ningún costo.

Pero para Peterson y otros estudiantes de secundaria del área, fue claro que tener naloxona en la escuela no era suficiente, especialmente en lugares rurales. “Los profesores que están capacitados para usar Narcan no van a estar en las fiestas en donde los estudiantes consumen drogas”, dijo.

Y no es suficiente esperar que los adolescentes la tengan en casa.

“No va a ser útil si está en la casa de alguien a 20 minutos fuera de la ciudad. Será útil si está en su mochila siempre”, dijo Zoe Ramsey, otra amiga de McKinney y estudiante de último año en Animas High School.

Pero estudiantes del área, y administradores escolares, no estaban seguros: ¿Los estudiantes podrían meterse en problemas por llevar el antagonista de opioides en sus mochilas, o por dárselo a amigos? ¿Podría una escuela o distrito ser considerado responsable si algo saliera mal?

“Nos informaron que estaba en contra de las reglas llevar naloxona, y especialmente distribuirla”, dijo Ilias “Leo” Stritikus, quien se graduó de Durango High School el año pasado.

Ilias, junto con Ramsey y Peterson, ayudaron a formar el grupo Students Against Overdose. Juntos, convencieron a Animas, que es una escuela autónoma, y al distrito escolar cercano, de cambiar las normas. Ahora, con el permiso de los padres, y después de recibir capacitación sobre cómo administrarla, los estudiantes pueden llevar naloxona en las instalaciones escolares.

Karla Sluis, vocera del Distrito Escolar 9-R de Durango, dijo que al menos 45 estudiantes han completado la capacitación. Los distritos escolares en otras partes del país también han determinado que es importante clarificar sobre la capacidad de los estudiantes para llevar naloxona.

“Queremos ser parte de salvar vidas”, dijo Smita Malhotra, directora médica principal del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles en California.

El condado de Los Ángeles tuvo uno de los recuentos de muertes por sobredosis en adolescentes más altos que cualquier otro condado del país: de 2020 a 2022, murieron 111 adolescentes de 14 a 18 años.

Uno de ellos fue un joven de 15 años que murió en un baño de su escuela por envenenamiento por fentanilo. Desde entonces, el distrito de Malhotra ha actualizado su política sobre naloxona para permitir que los estudiantes la lleven y la administren.

“Todos los estudiantes pueden llevar naloxona en nuestros campus escolares sin enfrentar ninguna disciplina”, dijo Malhotra. Agregó que el distrito también está fortaleciendo el apoyo entre pares y organizando sesiones educativas para familias y estudiantes.

Las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Montgomery en Maryland tomaron un enfoque similar. El personal escolar tuvo que administrar naloxona 18 veces durante el transcurso de un año escolar, y cinco estudiantes murieron a lo largo de un semestre.

Cuando el distrito organizó foros comunitarios sobre el tema, Patricia Kapunan, la oficial médica del distrito, dijo: “Los estudiantes fueron muy elocuentes sobre querer acceso a la naloxona. Es muy poco probable que un estudiante lleve algo en su mochila que piense que podría causarle problemas”.

Entonces, también, clarificó su política. Mientras tanto, los medios de comunicación locales informaron que estudiantes de secundaria encontraron a un joven desmayado, con los labios morados, en el baño de un McDonald’s enfrente de su escuela, y usaron Narcan para revivirlo. Fue durante el almuerzo en un día de escuela.

“Narcan no es nuestro camino para salir de la crisis de uso de opioides”, dijo Kapunan. “Pero fue crítico usarlo primero. Como conocer el número 911″. Ahora, con el apoyo del distrito y del departamento de salud del condado, los estudiantes están capacitando a otros estudiantes sobre cómo administrar naloxona. Jackson Taylor, uno de los estudiantes entrenadores, estimó que, un sábado reciente, capacitaron a unos 200 en el transcurso de tres horas.

“Fue increíble, un paso hacia la solución del problema”, dijo Taylor.

Cada aprendiz se fue con dos dosis de naloxona.

Esta historia fue producida por KFF Health News, una redacción nacional enfocada en el tratamiento en profundidad de temas de salud, que es uno de los principales programas de KFF, la fuente independiente de investigación de políticas de salud, encuestas y periodismo. KFF Health News edita California Healthline, un servicio editorialmente independiente de la California Health Care Foundation.

How a friend’s death turned Colorado teens into anti-overdose activists

2024-03-04T21:38:08+00:00

Leer en español.

This story was produced by KFF Health News and is republished with permission.

Gavinn McKinney loved Nike shoes, fireworks, and sushi. He was studying Potawatomi, one of the languages of his Native American heritage. He loved holding his niece and smelling her baby smell. On his 15th birthday, the Durango, Colorado, teen spent a cold December afternoon chopping wood to help neighbors who couldn’t afford to heat their homes.

McKinney almost made it to his 16th birthday. He died of fentanyl poisoning at a friend’s house in December 2021. His friends say it was the first time he tried hard drugs. The memorial service was so packed people had to stand outside the funeral home.

Now, his peers are trying to cement their friend’s legacy in state law. They recently testified to state lawmakers in support of a bill they helped write to ensure students can carry naloxone with them at all times without fear of discipline or confiscation. School districts tend to have strict medication policies. Without special permission, Colorado students can’t even carry their own emergency medications, such as an inhaler, and they are not allowed to share them with others.

“We realized we could actually make a change if we put our hearts to it,” said Niko Peterson, a senior at Animas High School in Durango and one of McKinney’s friends who helped write the bill. “Being proactive versus being reactive is going to be the best possible solution.”

Individual school districts or counties in California, Maryland, and elsewhere have rules expressly allowing high school students to carry naloxone. But Jon Woodruff, managing attorney at the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, said he wasn’t aware of any statewide law such as the one Colorado is considering. Woodruff’s Washington, D.C.-based organization researches and drafts legislation on substance use.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can halt an overdose. Available over the counter as a nasal spray, it is considered the fire extinguisher of the opioid epidemic, for use in an emergency, but just one tool in a prevention strategy. (People often refer to it as “Narcan,” one of the more recognizable brand names, similar to how tissues, regardless of brand, are often called “Kleenex.”)

The Biden administration last year backed an ad campaign encouraging young people to carry the emergency medication.

Most states’ naloxone access laws protect do-gooders, including youth, from liability if they accidentally harm someone while administering naloxone. But without school policies explicitly allowing it, the students’ ability to bring naloxone to class falls into a gray area.

Ryan Christoff said that in September 2022, fellow staff at Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colorado, where he worked and which one of his daughters attended at the time, confiscated naloxone from one of her classmates.

“She didn’t have anything on her other than the Narcan, and they took it away from her,” said Christoff, who had provided the confiscated Narcan to that student and many others after his daughter nearly died from fentanyl poisoning. “We should want every student to carry it.”

Boulder Valley School District spokesperson Randy Barber said the incident “was a one-off and we’ve done some work since to make sure nurses are aware.” The district now encourages everyone to consider carrying naloxone, he said.

Zoe Ramsey, a high school senior from Durango, Colorado, testified before state lawmakers in February about a bill to clarify that students may carry naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses.

Community’s devastation turns to action

In Durango, McKinney’s death hit the community hard. McKinney’s friends and family said he didn’t do hard drugs. The substance he was hooked on was Tapatío hot sauce — he even brought some in his pocket to a Rockies game.

After McKinney died, people started getting tattoos of the phrase he was known for, which was emblazoned on his favorite sweatshirt: “Love is the cure.” Even a few of his teachers got them. But it was classmates, along with their friends at another high school in town, who turned his loss into a political movement.

“We’re making things happen on behalf of him,” Peterson said.

The mortality rate has spiked in recent years, with more than 1,500 other children and teens in the U.S. dying of fentanyl poisoning the same year as McKinney. Most youth who die of overdoses have no known history of taking opioids, and many of them likely thought they were taking prescription opioids like OxyContin or Percocet — not the fake prescription pills that increasingly carry a lethal dose of fentanyl.

“Most likely the largest group of teens that are dying are really teens that are experimenting, as opposed to teens that have a long-standing opioid use disorder,” said Joseph Friedman, a substance use researcher at UCLA who would like to see schools provide accurate drug education about counterfeit pills, such as with Stanford’s Safety First curriculum.

Allowing students to carry a low-risk, lifesaving drug with them is in many ways the minimum schools can do, he said.

“I would argue that what the schools should be doing is identifying high-risk teens and giving them the Narcan to take home with them and teaching them why it matters,” Friedman said.

Writing in The New England Journal of Medicine, Friedman identified Colorado as a hot spot for high school-aged adolescent overdose deaths, with a mortality rate more than double that of the nation from 2020 to 2022.

“Increasingly, fentanyl is being sold in pill form, and it’s happening to the largest degree in the West,” said Friedman. “I think that the teen overdose crisis is a direct result of that.”

Gavinn McKinney died of fentanyl poisoning at a friend’s house in December 2021. McKinney was part of the Thunder Clan of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. He also had Kickapoo and Assiniboine heritage.

If Colorado lawmakers approve the bill, “I think that’s a really important step,” said Ju Nyeong Park, an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University, who leads a research group focused on how to prevent overdoses. “I hope that the Colorado Legislature does and that other states follow as well.”

Park said comprehensive programs to test drugs for dangerous contaminants, better access to evidence-based treatment for adolescents who develop a substance use disorder, and promotion of harm reduction tools are also important. “For example, there is a national hotline called Never Use Alone that anyone can call anonymously to be supervised remotely in case of an emergency,” she said.

Taking matters into their own hands

Many Colorado school districts are training staff how to administer naloxone and are stocking it on school grounds through a program that allows them to acquire it from the state at little to no cost. But it was clear to Peterson and other area high schoolers that having naloxone at school isn’t enough, especially in rural places.

“The teachers who are trained to use Narcan will not be at the parties where the students will be using the drugs,” he said.

And it isn’t enough to expect teens to keep it at home.

“It’s not going to be helpful if it’s in somebody’s house 20 minutes outside of town. It’s going to be helpful if it’s in their backpack always,” said Zoe Ramsey, another of McKinney’s friends and a senior at Animas High School.

“We were informed it was against the rules to carry naloxone, and especially to distribute it,” said Ilias “Leo” Stritikus, who graduated from Durango High School last year.

But students in the area, and their school administrators, were uncertain: Could students get in trouble for carrying the opioid antagonist in their backpacks, or if they distributed it to friends? And could a school or district be held liable if something went wrong?

He, along with Ramsey and Peterson, helped form the group Students Against Overdose. Together, they convinced Animas, which is a charter school, and the surrounding school district, to change policies. Now, with parental permission, and after going through training on how to administer it, students may carry naloxone on school grounds.

Durango School District 9-R spokesperson Karla Sluis said at least 45 students have completed the training.

School districts in other parts of the nation have also determined it’s important to clarify students’ ability to carry naloxone.

“We want to be a part of saving lives,” said Smita Malhotra, chief medical director for Los Angeles Unified School District in California.

Gavinn McKinney’s mother, whose name is being withheld because they are part of a state confidentiality program for survivors of domestic violence, at the Colorado state Capitol for a hearing in February on a bill to clarify that students in the state may carry naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses.

Los Angeles County had one of the nation’s highest adolescent overdose death tallies of any U.S. county: From 2020 to 2022, 111 teens ages 14 to 18 died. One of them was a 15-year-old who died in a school bathroom of fentanyl poisoning. Malhotra’s district has since updated its policy on naloxone to permit students to carry and administer it.

“All students can carry naloxone in our school campuses without facing any discipline,” Malhotra said. She said the district is also doubling down on peer support and hosting educational sessions for families and students.

Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland took a similar approach. School staff had to administer naloxone 18 times over the course of a school year, and five students died over the course of about one semester.

When the district held community forums on the issue, Patricia Kapunan, the district’s medical officer, said, “Students were very vocal about wanting access to naloxone. A student is very unlikely to carry something in their backpack which they think they might get in trouble for.”

So it, too, clarified its policy. While that was underway, local news reported that high school students found a teen passed out, with purple lips, in the bathroom of a McDonald’s down the street from their school, and used Narcan to revive them. It was during lunch on a school day.

“We can’t Narcan our way out of the opioid use crisis,” said Kapunan. “But it was critical to do it first. Just like knowing 911.”

Now, with the support of the district and county health department, students are training other students how to administer naloxone. Jackson Taylor, one of the student trainers, estimated they trained about 200 students over the course of three hours on a recent Saturday.

“It felt amazing, this footstep toward fixing the issue,” Taylor said.

Each trainee left with two doses of naloxone.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Newark Public Schools to get electric school buses through federal grant of nearly $3 million

2024-03-04T20:51:19+00:00

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Newark Public Schools is one of five New Jersey districts slated to receive electric buses through a federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Through the agency’s Clean School Bus Program, Newark, the state’s largest school district, will get six electric buses to service some of the city’s roughly 126 routes to public schools. Bloomfield Township, Elizabeth, Lakewood Township, and Union City will also receive funding through the $19 million award.

The new funding comes after the Newark Board of Education announced an increase in student transportation costs included in its $1.3 billion budget in 2023. Federal, state, and local leaders say the new grant will help provide cleaner air and reduce health risks in communities, especially for children with respiratory problems like asthma.

“There is still a lot of work to make Newark the most environmentally friendly and equitable city it can be,” Carlos Vega, public information officer for the EPA, said last week in response to emailed questions from Chalkbeat.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey, making up 37% of all emissions, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. In Newark, residents often experience air quality levels higher in pollutants than other areas throughout the state and country. The city is home to several major roads and is near major highways, the Newark-Elizabeth Marine Port, factories, and an international airport that contribute to unhealthy air quality levels, according to the EPA.

One in every four children in Newark suffers from asthma — three times the state average — and asthma is a leading cause of students missing school, according to an EPA study monitoring air quality in the area. In 2019, Superintendent Roger León named asthma as one of four health issues that hinder student achievement.

The $19 million grant will be awarded to the private transportation company Van-Con, Inc., which will purchase and distribute the electric buses. These buses produce lower tailpipe emissions compared with traditional school buses that run and emit more pollutants, according to the EPA.

Newark will receive $2,667,222 to cover the costs of six electric buses and $180,000 for bus charger installation costs. The district will receive the buses within the next year and Van-Con must provide semi-annual reports to the EPA for all school districts awarded in New Jersey.

In 2023, the Newark Board of Education said it spent just over $7 million on a contract with 20 transportation companies to service 126 routes to schools. That year, the district also launched a monthly NJ Transit bus pass program to provide free rides for high school students.

In late January, New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette announced the launch of the Electric School Bus Grant Program providing up to $45 million in funding over three years to replace diesel school buses with battery-electric school buses, and to install associated charging infrastructure across the state. School districts can apply for this funding until May 17.

In total, the federal government is providing more than $1 billion to fund electric buses across 280 school districts nationwide.

In Illinois, Chicago Public Schools is expected to get $20 million to buy 50 electric school buses and Detroit Public Schools nearly $6 million to buy 15 electric buses. In Colorado, Aurora Public Schools received $2 million to buy seven new electric school buses.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Empty display cases, hungry kids, disrupted production: NYC’s cafeteria cuts send shockwaves

2024-02-06T18:57:31+00:00

The effects of New York City’s recent school food budget cuts are already rippling through city cafeterias and beyond, even threatening jobs at the manufacturer of the chicken dumplings pulled from February’s menu.

A $60 million November cut to the Education Department’s school foods division forced the agency to chop a number of popular items, including cookies, bean and cheese burritos, and roasted chicken, Chalkbeat first reported last month. Middle and high schools with cafeterias that resemble food courts lost chicken tenders, French fries, burritos, and grab-and-go salads – items that were previously available on most days.

New York City’s school system runs the largest daily food program in the country outside the military. It serves approximately 880,000 daily “free, nutritious, and delicious meals,” according to Education Department spokesperson Jenna Lyle, who downplayed the impact of the menu changes. She said the agency “will continue to work to prioritize student choice wherever possible.”

But the cuts were felt immediately by many students.

Alec Lopez, a 17-year-old senior at Urban Assembly Bronx Academy of Letters in the South Bronx, went to the cafeteria last week to grab the chicken tenders and French fries she usually takes only to discover that they weren’t available.

“I didn’t eat anything. I was like, ‘Ooh maybe I should get a salad,’ but they cut that out too,” she said. “For the rest of the day, we’re tired, we’re hungry, energy levels are so down and it makes everyone feel like crap.”

A container with veggie nuggets at Bronx Academy of Letters on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 in Bronx, New York.

Previously full display cases sat empty, and the slim offerings on shelves contained meager portions, said David Garcia-Rosen, the dean at Bronx Letters.

“I’ve never seen that all school year,” he said, adding that some of the containers held what appeared to be just a handful of veggie nuggets.

At Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology in Hell’s Kitchen, the recent menu cuts exacerbated long-standing issues with broken cafeteria equipment and food shortages. Parents and school officials have tried in vain for years to get busted display cases fixed, said Diane Tinsley, a parent of a senior and Parent Association president at Urban Assembly Gateway.

On a recent Friday afternoon, multiple broken display cases sat empty and unstocked, while only one was filled with hot food for a building with five schools and more than 2,000 students.

“I come in and it just looks like a desert,” Tinsley said. “This is child abuse.”

Food manufacturers feeling pain, too

The effects of the cuts are also spreading beyond school cafeterias. The city’s decision to yank major menu items midyear sent shockwaves through food manufacturers.

“We’re all just kind of frustrated and befuddled,” said Kirk Jaudes, chief operating officer of International Food Solutions, the company that produces the chicken dumplings for city schools. The company first found out about the change when a staffer noticed that the dumplings were missing from the Education Department’s February menu, he added. An Education Department spokesperson said vendors were notified on Dec. 19 and Dec. 22 of the changes.

International Food Solutions produces the dumplings exclusively for the city Education Department from a factory in Long Island that can churn out somewhere in the ballpark of 2 million servings a month, at a cost of around $1 a serving, Jaudes estimated.

But the Education Department’s abrupt decision to pull the plug is upending the company’s operations, Jaudes said, taking a bite out of revenue, slowing production, and forcing the company to consider layoffs.

“You could potentially have students in the New York City Department of Education whose parents are going to lose their jobs,” he said. The company, moreover, is still stuck with about $350,000 in leftover inventory that it can’t sell anywhere else because the product is reserved exclusively for New York City schools. Company officials are trying to work out a deal to distribute it in city schools, but said they haven’t gotten anywhere.

“Unless there’s major policy changes, we won’t be doing business with New York City” any more, Jaudes said. “We can’t take that risk.”

An Education Department spokesperson noted that the agency asked all vendors whose items were removed from the February menu for a “voluntary price reduction,” and that International Food Solutions declined. But Jaudes said his company had already agreed to the price suggested by the Education Department before this school year, and had even offered an additional discount, also before the start of the school year, on top of that.

“We didn’t have any margin to provide further cost reductions,” he said. The Education Department spokesperson said nine vendors offered price reductions, which are currently being reviewed by city officials to see if any items can be added back to the menu.

The dumplings are, by many accounts, one of the most popular items served in schools.

At one Manhattan elementary school, 31 out of 46 fourth- and fifth- grade students surveyed last week by the school’s principal said dumplings were the best lunch meal, the administrator said.

And in a recent Reddit thread about the school menu cuts, the top comment reads, in part: “I work in the schools. The dumplings are popular and most kids eat them.”

Reasons for budget cut raise questions

The circumstances surrounding the school food budget cut are still somewhat murky. The $60 million cut to school foods was part of a larger $550 million budgetary blow to the Education Department that Mayor Eric Adams said was prompted by increased spending on the wave of migrants who have arrived in the city over the past year-and-a-half.

But budget documents appear to suggest that the cut to school foods from the city’s budget was going to be offset by federal food revenues that “exceed budgeted amount.” Administration officials told the City Council that the cut to city school food funds wouldn’t affect the division’s overall operating budget because it would be offset by federal money, according to a council source.

“It’s mystifying why schools are seeing these removals of menu items,” the council source added.

An Education Department spokesperson confirmed that the city is indeed replacing the missing city money with federal funds, and said the overall $580 million budget for school foods is still higher than what the city spent last year. Costs are up this year because of increased participation compared to last year and increases in unspecified “other areas,” according to the spokesperson. Labor contracts prevent the Education Department from laying off workers, “which meant a reduction in food options,” the spokesperson added.

Some observers worry that the cuts could have long-term implications for the city’s school food program.

The number of city students eating lunch on an average day, while higher than last year, is still down significantly from the 2019-20 school year, according to city data.

If even fewer students eat lunch because of the menu changes, that could lead to lower reimbursement from the federal government, which in turn can lead to cuts that further diminish the quality of the food, in what Jaudes called “a never-ending cycle to the bottom.”

The Education Department spokesperson said, “The current menu still provided high demand items, a decrease in meal participation is not expected.”

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Millions of kids are newly eligible for free school meals — but many will likely miss out

2023-10-11T17:37:22+00:00

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Dylan Beitz’s ears perked up when federal officials announced last month that a new rule would allow more schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students.

That rule would cover Jefferson County schools, the district in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle where Beitz oversees child nutrition. Before the change, the district fell just below the federal cutoff for offering free meals to all 8,400 of its students as part of a national program meant to help high-poverty schools.

Under the new rule, which takes effect later this month, Jefferson County could go from offering free meals in seven schools to all 16. Beitz knew that could save the district time and labor — no more mailing bills for unpaid meal debt — and give families extra money to spend on other expenses.

“I think it’s something that we want to go to,” Beitz said. But first, the district has to see if it can afford to “bite that bullet” if there are out-of-pocket costs: “We’ve really got to look and see what the financial repercussions are.”

Beitz isn’t the only one crunching the numbers. Recent headlines proclaimed the new rule would grant millions of students access to free school meals. And there’s research indicating that universal free meals may provide academic and other advantages for students. Yet federal officials and school nutrition experts say many kids who could benefit will actually miss out.

That’s because without additional funding from Congress that’s probably not on the horizon, districts that want to participate must weigh the costs and benefits of providing more free meals against other priorities.

“Unless they have additional resources, or the state is able to provide additional resources, a lot of the newly eligible schools will find it difficult financially to implement that,” said Crystal FitzSimons, who oversees school nutrition work for the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, which advocated for the new cutoff.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees school meal programs, said it’s up to districts to opt in and the agency knows not all newly eligible districts will do so.

What is the community eligibility provision?

This federal program allows schools or districts that meet certain criteria to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of family income. Elsewhere, schools have to collect paperwork from families to determine if they qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. Other students pay full price.

What is changing?

Under a new rule, individual schools or entire districts can participate in the community eligibility provision if at least 25% of students meet certain criteria. These could include participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as SNAP — or Medicaid, lacking stable housing, or living in foster care. Under the previous rule, schools or districts had to enroll at least 40% of students who met those criteria.

The change affects a federal program known as the community eligibility provision that allows schools to provide free meals to all students regardless of family income. It has shot up in popularity in recent years, as schools got used to providing free meals to all kids under a temporary pandemic-era policy, and didn’t want to go back to charging them when that expired.

Under a previous rule for that program, individual schools or entire districts could offer free meals to all kids if at least 40% of students met certain criteria that showed they were from low-income backgrounds. The new rule lowers that to 25% of students. Around 3,000 school districts serving some 5 million students are newly eligible, federal officials said. That represents around 10% of all public school students in the U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack touted the change as an important step toward fulfilling the Biden administration’s pledge that it would expand access to free school meals to millions more children in the coming years.

In feedback collected by federal officials, some school staff said the lower threshold would help their districts that didn’t qualify under the old cutoff, “but they know students in their communities experience widespread food insecurity.”

Still, many districts that are newly eligible may choose not to participate because they’d rather spend money on things like classroom activities or staff salaries.

Before the rule change, schools and districts that were just above the old 40% threshold often didn’t participate because it was hard to break even under the formula the federal government uses to reimburse schools for the free meals they serve.

Last school year, two-thirds of schools that served 40% to 50% of students who met the low-income criteria used the community eligibility provision, a 50-state survey conducted by FitzSimons’ organization found. The take-up rate rose as more students were identified as being from low-income families.

That financial calculus is unlikely to change anytime soon. In its most recent budget, the Biden administration proposed raising the federal reimbursement for school meals in a way that would help districts that serve lower shares of students from low-income families provide free meals to all. But Congress would have to agree — and Republican leaders have previously opposed additional spending to make meals free for kids who don’t already qualify.

To decide if the free-meals-for-all route makes financial sense, newly eligible districts should look at whether they’d save money by reducing administrative work, and if there would be “any financial improvements because of economies of scale and increases in breakfast and lunch participation,” FitzSimons said.

Eliminating meal debt, and the need to collect it, could also be a reason to opt in, she said.

School officials want more aid from federal government

The community eligibility provision is different from the temporary universal free school meal programs that all schools were permitted to run during the pandemic, and the permanent state-run programs that eight states adopted after Congress failed to pass a national universal meals program.

Those programs generally offer free meals to all public school students in the state regardless of income, and require additional state spending.

Federal officials and school nutrition experts expect many districts in those eight states will take advantage of the rule change because it will cut down on paperwork and allow for more federal funding. More districts in states that help pay for the cost of participating in the federal program, such as New York and Oregon, may opt in, too.

Districts that want to make this change mid-year will have to work with state education officials to seek a waiver from the federal government. Some, like New York, have already opened an application process.

Kate Dorr, who oversees food services for 16 districts in central New York, is planning to apply to bring on the last three schools in her area that do not yet serve free meals to all students.

She knows it will help many families. Last year, meal debt in her districts spiked from zero to $150,000. Dorr had many painful conversations with families who struggled to afford food, but no longer qualified for free meals.

But without the New York state subsidy, providing free meals to all students would be hard to afford, she said. That’s why she wants federal officials and lawmakers to do more to support school nutrition programs like hers.

“I really feel for states that don’t have this kind of supplemental funding,” Dorr said. “This change from 40% to 25% just feels like way too little, when so much more is needed.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Cookies, chicken tenders, dumplings: NYC cost-cutting axes faves from February school menu

2024-01-24T20:00:23+00:00

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Mayor Eric Adams’ school budget cuts will soon hit New York City students square in the stomach.

A $60 million November cut to the city’s school foods budget is forcing the Education Department to thin out next month’s school cafeteria menu by removing a host of pricier items, including student favorites like cookies, chicken dumplings, and bean and cheese burritos, according to an email from a school food official obtained by Chalkbeat.

Additionally, at the growing number of middle and high schools with cafeterias that resemble food courts (part of an initiative expanded by Adams to improve the lunchroom experience), students will no longer get chicken tenders, grab-and-go salads, and French fries – items that are currently offered multiple days a week as options for kids who don’t want that day’s main course.

Other items that will be taken out of rotation in February include roasted chicken thighs and legs as well as guacamole and salsa, the message said. Breakfast meal kits, French toast sticks, bagel sticks, ciabatta bread, and sweet potato oatmeal muffins will also be scratched.

In a recent meeting with parent leaders, Chris Tricarico, the Education Department’s head of school foods, acknowledged that the menus would be impacted by the budget cuts, but promised “minimal changes.”

But to many parents and kids, the cuts feel anything but bite-sized.

“To me, that’s like 75% of the menu,” said Jose Santana, a 17-year-old senior at Dr. Richard Izquierdo Charter School in the Bronx, which offers the same menu as district schools. French fries were “definitely one of my favorites,” he said. “For that to be gone is huge.”

Without the chicken tenders, fries, and grab-and-go salads, the remaining daily backup options at high schools with food courts are pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, and hummus and crackers, according to the February menu. There will also still be a daily salad bar, but Santana said he doesn’t see many students use it.

“At least the pizza is still there,” he said.

Clarissa Kunizaki, a 15-year-old sophomore at Brooklyn Technical High School, was similarly shocked to hear the list of menu items getting chopped.

“The chicken thighs and legs were the best option for lunch in my opinion, since the other hot meals usually do not taste great,” she said. The bean and cheese burritos were also “pretty good and very popular among other students,” she added.

Menu cuts come after school food investment

Adams and schools Chancellor David Banks pledged $50 million a little over a year ago to turn 80 more school cafeterias into food courts – a change advocates have contended can increase the number of students who eat. More than 100 school buildings serving 140,000 students now have an enhanced cafeteria, according to the Education Department’s school kitchens dashboard.

Adams has made school food a major priority, launching an initiative to serve vegan offerings on Fridays and a recent program to bring professional chefs into schools to help develop new recipes.

But with the variety in the food court lunchrooms getting significantly diminished next month, some students wondered whether more teens would turn to other options.

“I see every day a good group of students that just don’t eat school lunch,” Santana said. “I wonder if this budget cut will cause students to spend more money” outside schools at nearby bodegas or delis.

“I personally don’t want to waste five to 10 dollars every day,” he added.

Liz Accles, the executive director of Community Food Advocates, a nonprofit that led the charge to expand the city’s cafeteria enhancement program, said in an email she’s “hopeful that the funds will be restored … given the unprecedented commitments that the Mayor and Chancellor have made in creating an innovative and leading edge school meals program.”

An Education Department spokesperson said items that don’t appear on the February menu may still be added back in subsequent months.

“Our school food team has worked diligently to respond to budget reductions without sacrificing nutritional standards and with a continued focus on student choice,” said spokesperson Jenna Lyle. “Daily options, including a salad bar, continue to be available, and our young people continue to benefit from enhanced cafeterias, halal certified kitchens, plant-powered Fridays and other school food programs.”

Students and parents concerned about more school food waste

At many high schools and even some middle schools, students are allowed to leave campus for lunch and buy food at local eateries.

But for younger students, there’s no option to leave school – it’s either eat what’s on the school menu, or bring food from home.

Ana, a 6-year-old student at P.S. 289 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, said she’s “going to be sad” if the cookies disappear from her school menu.

“They took things off the menu that I really enjoy,” said Mia Ueoka, a 9-year-old fourth grader at P.S. 295 in Brooklyn. “My favorite thing on the menu was the cheese and bean burrito and the chicken thighs. I actually felt like I could get protein from it.”

Ueoka’s dad, Elton Dodson, worried the changes could exacerbate equity issues, “with more affluent parents able to pack lunches to compensate for this policy atrocity.”

News that the chicken dumplings are falling victim to the budget cuts also hit hard for some students and adults.

Jake Jacobs, a middle school art teacher in the Bronx, allows students to eat lunch in his classroom, and gets a first-hand look at what they like and what they don’t based on what ends up in his trash can.

“They throw the vast majority of it away,” he said. But the dumplings were one bright spot. “They get double portions and they’re fighting over them,” he said.

The $60 million cut to school foods was part of a total of roughly $550 million chopped from the Education Department budget in Adams’ November budget. Adams ordered all city agencies to trim their budgets by 5% as part of what he described as a bleak fiscal situation driven by increased spending on services for migrants and asylum seekers.

But Adams significantly revised that financial forecast in January. He reversed $10 million of the November cuts to the Education Department, but still announced $100 million in new cuts set to take effect next fiscal year. Additional cuts to the police, fire, and sanitation departments were put on hold.

Officials have emphasized that they have done everything possible to keep the cuts from directly affecting services. But several parents said the cuts to the school menus would have an immediate impact on their kids.

“Our schools have already seen after-school programs decimated, arts programs eliminated,” said Dodson, the parent at P.S. 295. “Now they won’t have adequate fuel for the day.”

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Nearly 10 million children won’t get summer food benefits as states opt out of new federal program

2024-01-10T21:02:51+00:00

Across rural North Dakota, many school districts struggle to staff summer meal programs, and families might live 20 miles from the nearest meal site.

So state officials eagerly got on board when they learned the federal government was launching a permanent summer program that gives low-income families $120 for each of their school-aged children. Families can use the money, which comes loaded on a prepaid card, to buy their own food and cook at home.

“In North Dakota, the summer food service program doesn’t meet the needs of a lot of the students,” said Linda Schloer, who directs child nutrition for the state’s Department of Public Instruction. “For a modest effort both financially and personnel-wise, it just makes sense that we would do whatever we can to try to get the program going as soon as possible.”

States had to tell the federal government by Jan. 1 if they planned to run a Summer EBT program in 2024. As of Wednesday, 35 states said they would. Together they are expected to reach more than 20 million school-aged children — a rare example of a pandemic-era assistance program sticking around after the end of the public health emergency.

But another 9.5 million students who would have been eligible will likely go without after their states declined to participate this year. Some states cited cost and administrative burden, while in others governors balked at accepting federal money.

South Dakota, which serves a similar student population as its neighbor to the north, is among those opting out.

“Federal money often comes with strings attached, and more of it is often not a good thing,” Ian Fury, the chief of communications for Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, wrote in an email. He cited low unemployment, the administrative burden of running the program, and South Dakota’s “robust existing food programs.”

That news came as a disappointment to school leaders like Louie Krogman, the superintendent of the White River School District in South Dakota.

The district serves around 400 students, most of whom are Native American and come from low-income families. The district runs a summer meal program in June, but families are on their own until school starts seven weeks later.

“We do have some families that would have definitely benefited from that additional EBT money,” Krogman said.

Timeline and cost keeps some states from offering Summer EBT this year

Summer EBT will work a little differently depending on the state, but generally states will identify which families qualify for the $120 or more in benefits and either mail out EBT cards for the summer, or load the value onto existing benefit cards. Then families can use that money to buy food at their local grocery store.

The newly permanent program will run similarly to the Pandemic Summer EBT program that operated for the previous three summers, as well as a federal pilot program that tested the concept over the last decade. A 2016 review of that program found that offering these summer benefits reduced child food insecurity and helped kids eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

The extra money is coming at a much-needed time, said Kelsey Boone of the Food Research & Action Center, a nonprofit that advocates for anti-hunger policies, including Summer EBT.

“In the last year, a lot of the boosts to SNAP benefits ended,” Boone said, referring to the temporary pandemic-era increases to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which ended last spring. Summer EBT “can help offset those cuts,” she said, “especially at a time when food prices are so high.”

In declining to participate, Georgia and Nebraska pointed to their states’ existing summer food programs, while Mississippi said it did not have the funding or staff capacity to run the program. During the pandemic, the federal government covered the full cost of the benefits and running the Summer EBT program, but now states have to split the administrative costs.

Texas said it wasn’t feasible to participate because the final rules and guidance for the program came just days before states had to tell the federal government if they’d be opting in. The state also needs additional funding from the state legislature to run the program, a spokesperson for the state’s health and human services department wrote in an email.

Vermont, too, said the state is working to secure funding and put the necessary IT systems in place. “The goal is to be able to offer this important summer nutrition benefit for eligible children starting in the summer of 2025,” a spokesperson for Vermont’s Department for Children and Families wrote in an email.

Still, in several Republican-led states, the program seemed to get caught in a longstanding political debate over whether the government should provide more publicly funded benefits to families — a debate that’s also raged over whether states should provide free school meals to all students.

Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, for example, issued a statement saying her state opposed participating in Summer EBT because the program didn’t have tight enough restrictions on what foods families could buy and it would cost the state $2.2 million to run — though Iowa students were in line to receive around $29 million in food benefits and the program follows the same nutrition requirements as SNAP.

“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families,” Reynolds said. “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”

In Oklahoma, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt cited concerns about the program not being “fully vetted.” He also said that it would help relatively few children — though an estimated 403,000 school-aged children would qualify for food benefits in his state.

Three of Oklahoma’s largest Native American tribes are stepping in to run Summer EBT programs on their reservations, an effort that could reach at least 50,000 children.

Florida said it opted out of participating because it already had summer food programs and didn’t want to follow additional federal rules.

“We anticipate that our state’s full approach to serving children will continue to be successful this year without any additional federal programs that inherently always come with some federal strings attached,” Miguel Nevarez, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Children and Families wrote in an email.

But Sky Beard, the Florida director for No Kid Hungry, an initiative of the nonprofit Share Our Strength that advocated for Summer EBT, sees a big need for the additional summer benefits.

Her organization conducted a poll last year that found around a quarter of parents of school-aged children worried their households wouldn’t have enough to eat.

“There are summer meal sites available throughout the state, but there are real challenges with families accessing those,” she said. Existing programs “just don’t reach all children that participate in school meal programs over the school year.”

Some Republican-led states are embracing the program. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for example, issued an enthusiastic statement about her state’s participation in the anti-hunger program.

“We are leveraging every resource at our disposal to fight this crisis, and Summer EBT promises to be an important new tool to give Arkansas children the food and nutrition they need,” she said.

For now, many states are already working to get Summer EBT up and running by the time school lets out in a few months.

In North Dakota, Schloer is focused on making sure the state has up-to-date addresses for eligible students so families can get their EBT cards in the mail.

The state is preparing to send out lots of emails and texts to families, too, to make sure they know about the new program, and whether they might need to fill out some paperwork to get their benefits.

“If we can get a message on that smartphone and from a reliable source, we’re hoping that they will read it,” Schloer said. Schools, too, can play a part by making sure families know: “It’s legitimate, please pay attention!”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Pruebas de plomo en agua son requisito ahora para escuelas y centros de cuidado

2022-08-23T21:05:55+00:00

Read in English.

Una ley estatal nueva requerirá que aproximadamente 5,800 escuelas primarias y centros para cuidado de niños en Colorado hagan pruebas de plomo en el agua e instalen filtros, o que hagan las reparaciones correspondientes si encuentran niveles altos de plomo.

Las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños tendrán hasta el 31 de mayo para hacerle pruebas al agua, y tendrán que hacer reparaciones si el nivel de plomo es más de 5 partes por mil millones. Ese límite es el mismo límite establecido por el gobierno federal para el agua embotellada, pero menos que el usado previamente por la mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado.

Esta ley, que incluye unos $21 millones para pruebas y reparaciones, representa la primera vez que Colorado ha establecido regulaciones para los niveles de plomo en el agua potable de las escuelas y los centros para cuidado de niños. Fue aprobada a la misma vez que un número creciente de estados han aprobado leyes para resolver el problema de exposición a plomo en los niños después de la crisis de agua potable que ocurrió en el 2014 en Flint, Michigan.

Lo que debes saber acerca de la ley de plomo en Colorado

• Las escuelas primarias y los centros de cuidado de niños de Colorado tendrán que hacerle pruebas de plomo a todas las fuentes de agua potable antes del 31 de mayo de 2023.

• Si el nivel de plomo supera 5 partes por mil millones — un límite nuevo y más estricto — las escuelas y los proveedores de cuidado de niños tendrán que reparar la plomería o instalar filtros.

• Las escuelas y los centros de cuidado de niños tendrán que notificarles los resultados de las pruebas a los padres, y decir qué van a hacer para corregir los problemas.

• La ley incluye unos $21 millones para pagar por pruebas y reparaciones en las escuelas y los centros de cuidado de niños. Las escuelas Intermedias serán elegibles para obtener fondos si queda algún restante.

• La exposición al plomo puede causar problemas de habla, atención y conducta en los niños, y el agua potable es solo una de las fuentes de exposición a plomo posibles.

• Otras fuentes son las pinturas que tienen plomo, el polvo de pinturas que tienen plomo, y artículos importados como ollas de cocina, especias, dulces o joyería.

El plomo es una neurotoxina dañina que puede causar discapacidades de aprendizaje y problemas de comportamiento, y hasta un nivel bajo de exposición puede afectar el coeficiente de inteligencia (IQ) de un niño. Los niveles de plomo en los niños de Estados Unidos han bajado drásticamente desde la década de 1970, pero hay estudios que han demostrado que en muchos niños todavía se puede detectar la presencia de plomo.

Un estudio de 2021 publicado en la revista médica JAMA Pediatrics encontró que un 72% de los niños menores de 6 años en Colorado que pasaron por pruebas tenían niveles detectables de plomo en la sangre — pero a muchos niños del estado nunca se les hacen pruebas.

Generalmente, los legisladores, funcionarios escolares y defensores de Colorado alabaron la ley nueva por tomar medidas para asegurar que los estudiantes tengan agua potable segura en la escuela o el centro de cuidado, pero para algunas personas la ley no llegó tan lejos como ellas esperaban.

Jaquikeyah Fields, directora de comunicaciones en Colorado People’s Alliance (un grupo de justicia racial que ayudó a darle forma al proyecto de ley), describió la ley como un gran logro que puede servir como puerta a otras leyes futuras sobre el mismo tema.

“Pienso que el objetivo era lograr más”, dijo ella, pero de todos modos “es bastante buena”.

Bob Lawson, director ejecutivo de manejo de instalaciones y construcción en el Distrito Escolar Pueblo 60 (de 15,000 estudiantes), dijo que está complacido porque la ley establece un límite claro de plomo para agua en las escuelas.

“Al menos han hecho algo para establecer la norma que debemos seguir”, dijo él. “Eso es grande porque Colorado no tenía nada”.

Elin Betanzo, especialista en agua que ayudó a descubrir la crisis en Flint, dijo que es bueno tener legislación para asegurar que las escuelas tengan agua potable segura, pero que instalar filtros inmediatamente es mejor estrategia que hacerle pruebas a las fuentes de agua para luego corregir cualquier problema. Ella dijo que es de amplio conocimiento que el agua potable de las escuelas a menudo contiene niveles de plomo detectables.

Eso se debe en parte a que las plomerías vendidas como “libres de plomo” todavía tienen permitido contener una pequeña cantidad de plomo.

“El agua es un solvente universal. Cuando tiene contacto con plomo, ese plomo entra al agua”, dijo Betanzo, fundadora de la empresa consultora Safe Water Engineering, de Detroit.

“Quizás no sea hoy ni mañana... pero si hay plomo presente, tarde o temprano estará en el agua”.

Leyes en evolución

La nueva ley sobre plomo de Colorado cambió bastante desde que fue introducida, en parte por la resistencia de algunos lideres de escuelas y educación temprana. La versión final tiene menos requisitos, tanto en cantidad como en rigurosidad, que las primeras versiones.

El proyecto de ley original hubiese requerido que las escuelas y los programas de cuidado de niños instalaran filto en todas las fuentes de agua potable, instalaran una estación para llenar botellas de agua filtrada por cada 100 estudiantes, y condujeran pruebas de plomo anuales en el agua potable. Todas las fuentes de agua con un nivel de plomo más alto de 1 parte por mil millones tendrían que ser corregidas, y se hubiesen requerido letreros nuevos y otras notificaciones.

El límite de 1 parte por cada mil millones es el recomendado por la Academia Americana de Pediatria para las fuentes de agua, pero pocos estados lo han adoptado. En vez de eso, la mayoría que ha aprobado leyes recientes ha establecido el límite en 5 o 10 partes por mil millones. El límite de Maine es 4 partes por cada mil millones.

Los grupos que representan a proveedores de cuidado de niños opusieron el proyecto de ley, diciendo que las reglas propuestas serían onerosas y demasiado costosas.

Dawn Alexander, directora ejecutiva de Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado, dijo que sería injusto imponerle estándares estrictos a los establecimientos de cuidado de niños, porque muchos casos de envenenamiento con plomo se originan en los hogares de los niños, que no están sujetos a esas reglas. Durante su trabajo anterior en el departamento de salud del condado de Wed, ella encontró que los investigadores usualmente descubrían que los altos niveles de plomo eran causados por pintura de plomo en la residencia de los niños.

“Simplemente no tiene sentido tener estas… imposiciones en negocios que ya están teniendo dificultades, ya que realmente no son la fuente que está generando esos problemas extremos de salud en los niños de nuestro estado”.

Alexander dijo que está complacida con la versión final de la ley: “Realmente es una ley mucho más razonable”.

Los proveedores de cuidado de niños en el hogar con licencia podrán optar por no cumplir los requisitos nuevos.

Mark Anderson, pediatra en Denver Health, piensa que la ley es buena, especialmente cuando se trata de los fondos para ayudar a las escuelas y a los centros de cuidado a cubrir el costo de las pruebas y las reparaciones.

“Si el costo ya no es una inquietud, no veo ninguna razón para no eliminar el plomo del agua”, dijo.

Por otro lado, Anderson señaló que el agua no es la fuente principal del alto nivel de plomo en los niños de Colorado.

“Uno tendría que tomar muchísima agua para exponerse si la concentración es 15 [partes por mil millones] o menos”, él dijo.

Anderson, que es parte de una red regional de expertos en salud ambiental de los niños, dijo que en su mayoría, los niveles altos de plomo en niños surgen de exposición a pintura con plomo, polvo de pinturas con plomo, o una categoría que el llama “productos importados” y que incluye ollas y artículos para cocinar, especias o dulces de otros países.

Los investigadores han encontrado que los niños que viven en códigos postales con poblaciones predominantemente negras o hispanas tienen más probabilidad de tener un nivel de plomo alto que los niños que viven en códigos postales cuyos residentes son predominantemente de raza blanca.

Esfuerzos en las escuelas después del caso de Flint

Después de la crisis de agua en Flint, algunos distritos escolares de Colorado empezaron voluntariamente a hacerle pruebas al agua y corregir cuando los niveles de plomo alcanzaban 15 o más partes por mil millones — el nivel usado en ese momento por la Agencia de Protección Ambiental para que las compañías de agua tomaran acción.

A partir de 2017, algunos distritos de Colorado aprovecharon un programa estatal voluntario de grants que paga por pruebas de plomo en las escuelas, pero el programa no cubría los costos de reparación y no fue usado ampliamente.

Los funcionarios del distrito escolar de Denver, el más grande de Colorado, empezaron a usar el estándar de 15 partes por mil millones, y luego cambiaron a un límite de 10 partes por mil millones en 2019. Durante los últimos seis años, el distrito reemplazó 264 sistemas de plomería, e instaló 83 filtros en fuentes de agua.

Sin embargo, la ley nueva requerirá trabajo adicional porque hubo pruebas anteriores que encontraron unas 150 fuentes de agua con niveles por encima del límite nuevo, pero por debajo del anterior.

Joni Rix, gerente del programa ambiental del distrito, dijo que aunque algunas de esas fuentes están en escuelas intermedias y secundarias (que no son el enfoque de la ley nueva), el distrito les va a instalar filtros.

Esas reparaciones, dijo ella, costarán “bastante dinero” — aproximadamente $1,000 cada una para instalarles un filtro inicialmente, y luego $70 en mantenimiento anual.

La Representante del Estado Emily Sirota, demócrata de Denver y una de las auspiciadoras de la legislación, dijo que quienes prepararon la ley usaron estimados altos al momento de asignar los fondos de recuperación de COVID a la ley nueva. Los funcionarios de salud del estado dijeron que esperan cubrir la mayor parte posible de los costos de pruebas y remediación, pero que los detalles están por verse.

En el distrito Pueblo 60, cinco escuelas obtendrán reparaciones este mes para cumplir con el límite nuevo de 5 partes por mil millones. Aunque los funcionarios del distrito les hicieron pruebas a todas las fuentes de agua en el 2017 y 2018, usaron el límite de 10 partes por mil millones para determinar dónde se harían reparaciones.

Los funcionarios en el distrito Mesa County Valley, en el oeste de Colorado, hicieron reparaciones en cinco de las 42 escuelas después de participar en el programa estatal voluntario de grants hace varios años. Aparte de los edificios en los que se instalaron plomerías nuevas o estaciones para llenar botellas, ninguna escuela tuvo un nivel de plomo más alto del límite nuevo de 5 partes por mil millones.

Desde entonces, el distrito ha construido dos escuelas nuevas pero no ha recibido instrucciones de los funcionarios de salud del estado en cuanto a si se requiere hacer pruebas de plomo.

“Si ellos quieren que hagamos pruebas en esos lugares nosotros con mucho gusto lo haremos, pero no veo por qué nosotros debamos hacerlo”, dijo Eddie Mort, coordinador de mantenimiento del distrito.

Una portavoz del Departamento de Salud Pública y Ambiente de Colorado, que supervisa la implementación de la ley nueva, dijo que no se ha decidido todavía si las escuelas o centros de cuidado de niños que hicieron pruebas de agua en los años recientes tendrán que hacer una serie nueva de pruebas.

“La decisión final podría ser que no habrá una solución ‘unitalla’ para todas las escuelas del estado que hicieron pruebas previamente”, dijo en un email.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Almuerzo escolar gratuito: Entérate de qué distritos escolares de Colorado tienen planes para ofrecerlo

2023-03-02T22:03:34+00:00

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Chalkbeat Colorado es un noticiero local sin fines de lucro que informa sobre las escuelas públicas en Denver y otros distritos. Suscríbete a nuestro boletín gratis por email en español para recibir lo último en noticias sobre educación.

La mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado, entre ellos los 10 más grandes del estado, planifican ofrecerles comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes el próximo año a través de un nuevo programa estatal aprobado por los votantes el pasado noviembre.

Tres distritos grandes que estaban indecisos a principios de diciembre — Denver, Douglas County y Academy 20 — le informaron a Chalkbeat que participarán en el programa, llamado Healthy School Meals For All.

El programa nuevo, financiado con un impuesto para las personas con ingresos altos, hará que Colorado sea uno de los pocos estados que les ofrecerán comidas escolares gratuitas a todos los estudiantes, una medida que, según sus defensores, alimentará a más niños hambrientos y eliminará el estigma actual asociado con recibir comidas escolares gratuitas. California y Maine pusieron en marcha programas universales de comida permanentes este año escolar, y algunos otros estados, como Nevada, Vermont y Massachusetts, están ofreciendo este tipo de programa al menos hasta el final del año escolar actual.

La creciente demanda de comidas gratuitas en las escuelas empezó después de dos años escolares en los que el gobierno federal eliminó temporalmente los requisitos de ingresos para recibir comidas a precio reducido, lo cual permitió que las escuelas de todo el país ofrecieran desayunos y almuerzos gratuitos a todos los estudiantes durante gran parte de la pandemia. Los requisitos volvieron a entrar en vigor el pasado verano.

Aunque el programa de comidas universales de Colorado es voluntario para los distritos escolares, la mayoría ha informado que optará por participar. Una encuesta realizada por Chalkbeat en dos docenas de distritos, en su mayoría grandes y medianos, reveló que 21 tienen planes de participar, y uno de ellos (Colorado Springs 11) tiene planes de ofrecer comidas escolares gratuitas el próximo año a través de un mecanismo de financiamiento diferente. Dos distritos, Mesa County Valley 51, basado en Grand Junction, y el Distrito 49, en Peyton, todavía no han decidido.

Otra encuesta reciente de los 178 distritos escolares del estado hecha por la Colorado School Nutrition Association reveló que unos 130 de los 140 distritos que contestaron la encuesta tienen planes de ofrecer comidas gratuitas el año que viene.

“De todos ellos, unos 10 han dicho que no están seguros”, dijo Erika Edwards, presidente de política pública y legislativa de la asociación. “Creo que nos estamos acercando bastante a que la gran mayoría diga que sí”.

En noviembre, los electores de Colorado aprobaron fácilmente la Propuesta FF, una nueva medida tributaria que recaudará más de $100 millones al año para pagar por comidas escolares gratuitas reduciendo las deducciones de impuestos disponibles para los hogares que ganan $300,000 dólares o más.

Para participar en el programa universal de comidas gratuitas, los distritos escolares de Colorado tendrán que maximizar la cantidad de dólares federales para comidas que reciben solicitando un programa llamado Community Eligibility Provision. Este programa nacional ayuda a cubrir el costo de las comidas gratuitas universales en las escuelas que tienen una gran proporción de estudiantes cuyas familias reciben ciertos beneficios del gobierno, como por ejemplo asistencia alimentaria o Asistencia Temporal a Familias Necesitadas (TANF). Las familias de esas escuelas no tienen que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido.

Pero incluso las escuelas de Colorado que no califiquen para el programa Community Eligibility Provision podrán ofrecerles comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes aprovechando los fondos de la Propuesta FF. Las familias en esas escuelas seguirán teniendo que llenar solicitudes para recibir comidas con subsidio.

Edwards dijo que los distritos escolares que no han decidido si van a ofrecer comidas gratis el próximo año tienden a estar en una de dos categorías. Los distritos rurales más pequeños tienen preguntas sobre la logística del programa Community Eligibility, mientras que los distritos metropolitanos más grandes tienen preguntas sobre cómo Colorado planifica darles fondos adicionales a las escuelas con grandes poblaciones de estudiantes de hogares de pocos ingresos, dijo.

Conocido como financiamiento de riesgo (at-risk funding), el dinero se ha distribuido según el número de estudiantes que llenan formularios para recibir comidas con subsidio federal. Colorado está avanzando hacia otras medidas, pero hasta que se complete el cambio, a los distritos les preocupa perder dinero si menos familias llenan los formularios cuando el almuerzo sea gratuito para todos los estudiantes.

Edwards dijo que la asociación de nutrición apoya el programa nuevo y planifica ofrecer capacitación y otras opciones para ayudar a los distritos que quieran participar.

“Creo que es la culminación de todo lo que un profesional de alimentación escolar desea que ocurra”, dijo.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior de Chalkbeat y cubre temas relacionados con la niñez y la alfabetización tempranas. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Por qué la escuela de tus hijos quiere que solicites las comidas gratis

2022-07-20T16:59:00+00:00

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Agrega otro pendiente antes de que empiece la escuela: solicitar las comidas gratis o a precio reducido.

Este año, los líderes del distrito escolar están nuevamente recordándoles a los padres que llenen este formulario. Durante los últimos dos años, los estudiantes podían recibir comidas gratis en la escuela sin que los padres tuvieran que llenar el formulario — pero eso ya no será posible este otoño.

Beth Wallace, directora ejecutiva de servicios de alimentos y nutrición de las Escuelas Públicas de Jeffco, dijo que su distrito sirvió aproximadamente un 30% más comidas que antes de la pandemia.

Al mismo tiempo, ya que no se requirió llenar formularios de elegibilidad, los distritos notaron una reducción en la población identificada como elegible para recibir comidas con subsidio. En Jeffco, la elegibilidad bajó un 10% a aproximadamente un 28% de la población estudiantil en comparación con el año escolar 2019-20. En todo el país, los distritos han reportado situaciones similares.

Los líderes del distrito y defensores de los niños querían que el gobierno federal permitiera que las escuelas continuaran ofreciendo comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes, pero el gobierno volvió a activar el requisito de comprobar la elegibilidad de cada estudiante.

Los electores de Colorado votarán en noviembre por una medida para ofrecerles comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes, pero eso no cambiará nada para este próximo año escolar. Este otoño se requerirá que los estudiantes tengan un formulario nuevo completado en el distrito escolar a fin de determinar si son elegibles para recibir comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido.

“Va a ser un reto”, dijo Wallace. “Ahora tenemos niños de segundo grado que nunca han tenido que pasar por este proceso”.

Con la ayuda de algunos directores de los programas de comedores escolares del distrito, Chalkbeat obtuvo respuestas a algunas de las respuestas básicas sobre cómo todo funciona.

¿Quién tiene que llenar el formulario y cuándo necesita hacerlo?

Todo padre o madre que siente que necesita ayuda para cubrir el costo de las comidas en la escuela debe llenar el formulario. Este formulario pide la información sobre tus ingresos y el tamaño de la familia, y eso se usará para determinar si calificas. Una familia de cuatro personas califica para las comidas gratuitas si los ingresos del hogar son $36,075 o menos. El formulario también pide los últimos cuatro dígitos de un número de Seguro Social, pero no es requisito para recibir asistencia.

No hay fecha límite para llenar el formulario. En realidad, se puede llenar en cualquier momento durante el año escolar, pero los beneficios no son retroactivos. Si esperas hasta octubre para llenar el formulario, y se determina que eras elegible para recibir las comidas gratuitamente, de todos modos tendrás que haber pagado por las comidas que tus hijos consumieron desde el comienzo del año escolar hasta que el distrito aprobó tu solicitud.

Y haber llenado un formulario en el pasado no tiene ningún efecto. Los formularios nunca son válidos después del 30 de junio, y por eso si llenas uno en mayo (por ejemplo), se vencerá al final de junio. Es decir, cada familia tiene que llenar el formulario nuevamente después del 1 de julio.

Si una familia tiene un cambio a mitad del año escolar — por ejemplo, nace un bebé o se pierden ingresos — ellos pueden solicitar para cambiar de estatus ese año. Además, si cambias de distrito escolar a mitad de año, necesitarás llenar un formulario nuevo otra vez porque los distritos no comparten los formularios.

¿Hay diferentes opciones para llenar el formulario?

¡Sí! Muchos padres llenan los formularios en línea, pero tu distrito debe tener copias en papel disponibles también. Además, algunos distritos (como Jeffco) han preparado computadoras en las que los padres pueden llenar estos formularios y recibir orientación.

Muchos distritos también ofrecen los formularios en varios idiomas. Si necesitas ayuda para llenar el formulario, o quieres pedir una copia en papel o en otro idioma, llama al departamento de servicios de comida de tu distrito.

¿Quién puede ver la información que incluiré en mi formulario?

Dependiendo del distrito escolar, usualmente una o dos personas son quienes leen y procesan los formularios, dijeron los líderes.

Los líderes escolares tienen que reportar cuántos estudiantes solicitaron y cuántos son elegibles para que el gobierno federal pague por sus comidas, pero esa información se le envía al gobierno de manera colectiva. Los departamentos federales no reciben copias de los formularios llenados por los padres. Los directores de distritos dicen que las escuelas no comparten los formularios con los funcionarios de inmigración tampoco.

Aparte de eso, los auditores del estado a veces piden ver algunos formularios de un distrito solo para verificar que los esté procesando correctamente. “No se fijan en ninguna otra información”, dijo Tony Jorstad, director de servicios de nutrición del distrito escolar 27J.

Si no califico para comidas gratis, o si mi hijo no consume la comida de la escuela, ¿por qué debo llenar el formulario?

Los líderes del distrito señalan que aparte del costo reducido por comidas escolares, hay otros beneficios para las familias y para las escuelas.

Por ejemplo, una familia que califica para comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido podría también calificar para waivers o descuentos en varios servicios de la escuela o el distrito, y para actividades como deporte, transporte y tecnología. Fuera de la escuela, las compañías de internet también ofrecen acceso a internet con descuento si los niños califican para comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido.

La cantidad de fondos que las escuelas reciben del gobierno federal, el estado y el distrito puede depender de cuántos estudiantes califican para comidas con subsidio. Los formularios también se usan para medir el índice de pobreza, que podría hacer que las escuelas reciban más recursos para los estudiantes.

Y hasta sin el programa federal que permitió que todas las comidas fueran gratis para todos los estudiantes, cuando una escuela tiene un nivel particularmente alto de estudiantes en pobreza, podría de todos modos ofrecer desayunos y comidas gratis para todos los estudiantes.

Si los departamentos de comida de las escuelas están recibiendo menos dinero, ¿habrá una diferencia en las comidas que ofrecerán?

Los directores de comedores escolares dicen que no. Aunque todos los distritos están anticipando que menos estudiantes comerán al mediodía porque menos de ellos calificarán para un subsidio, los funcionarios también esperan un aumento en el reembolso por cada comida (en comparación con la cantidad de antes de la pandemia).

No obstante, es posible que los menús se vean afectados por problemas en la cadena de suministro y el aumento en el costo de los alimentos.

“Realmente tratamos de planear nuestros menús según el reembolso que esperamos recibir”, dijo Jorstad. “Ahora mismo no estamos contemplando cambiar ninguna de las opciones de frutas y verduras de nuestro menú. Estamos bastante orgullosos de las frutas y verduras frescas que ofrecemos diariamente”.

Si las familias no califican para recibir comidas gratis o a precio reducido, pero de todos modos no pueden darles dinero a sus hijos para comer en la escuela, ¿las escuelas tienen alguna otra ayuda?

Los directores de comedores escolares del distrito dicen que es una pregunta difícil de contestar. Los padres deben acudir a las escuelas para hablar acerca de otras opciones. Las reglas federales previenen que los distritos escolares puedan dar comidas gratis.

A menudo una escuela puede permitir que un estudiante coma sin pagar en ese momento, pero le enviará una factura a la familia después. Antes de comenzar la pandemia, a muchos distritos escolares les preocupaba la cantidad de deudas que las familias estaban acumulando. Algunas escuelas cuentan con un presupuesto específico para estas situaciones. En otros casos, los distritos han recibido donativos para ayudar a saldar las deudas acumuladas por los estudiantes que no podían pagar.

“No tengan miedo de preguntar”, dijo Jorstad. “Pero lo primero, y lo más importante, es llenar ese formulario y dar la información para nosotros poder determinar si son elegibles”.

Yesenia Robles es reportera para Chalkbeat Colorado y cubre asuntos relacionados con los distritos escolares K-12 y la educación multilingüe. Para comunicarte con Yesenia, escríbele a yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

El próximo año habrá comidas gratis en la mayoría de los distritos escolares de Colorado. ¿El tuyo será uno de ellos?

2022-12-19T18:09:11+00:00

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Muchos distritos escolares de Colorado, entre ellos Jeffco, Cherry Creek, Aurora y Adams 14, tienen planes de ofrecer comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes a partir del otoño de 2023 con un programa estatal nuevo. Este programa será financiado con un impuesto aprobado por los electores y que afectará solamente a las personas con un alto nivel de ingresos.

Chalkbeat hizo una encuesta entre dos docenas de distritos, y 16 de ellos planean tener un plan universal de comidas gratis para todos los estudiantes el próximo año. Algunos distritos todavía no han decidido, y estos incluyen dos de los más grandes de Colorado — Denver y Douglas County.

Brehan Riley, director de nutrición escolar del Departamento de Educación de Colorado, dijo lo siguiente acerca de los funcionarios de los distritos escolares: “Parece que a muchos les interesa, pero todavía no están seguros. Quieren entender el programa un poco más.”

El programa, llamado Healthy School Meals for All, tiene como propósito asegurar que los estudiantes obtengan la nutrición necesaria para aprender y eliminar el estigma que a veces se asocia con el método actual que se usa para determinar quién recibirá comidas gratuitas (según los ingresos).

La iniciativa fue aprobada justo después de dos años en los que el gobierno federal eliminó los requisitos de elegibilidad basada en ingresos, y ahora permite que las escuelas les ofrezcan desayunos y almuerzos gratuitos a todos los estudiantes. Los requisitos volverían a aplicarse este otoño, pero los legisladores y defensores encontraron una manera de volver a tener comidas gratuitas el próximo año pidiéndoles a los electores de Colorado que aprobaran una asignación de fondos nueva con la Propuesta FF.

Los electores dijeron que sí.

La medida generará más de $100 millones al año reduciendo las deducciones de impuestos disponibles para las familias con ingresos de $300,000 o más.

A muchos funcionarios de distrito les entusiasma la idea de alimentar más estudiantes, tal como lo hicieron durante los dos primeros años de la pandemia. Cuando las comidas eran gratis gracias a la eliminación de los requisitos de elegibilidad, los administradores de Boulder Valley vieron un 40% de aumento en la cantidad de estudiantes que comían en la cafetería escolar, el Distrito 27J vio un aumento de 20-30%, y Aurora tuvo un aumento de 7-10%.

Beth Wallace, directora ejecutiva de servicios de comidas y nutrición, dijo que durante la pandemia 30% más estudiantes estaban comiendo en la escuela.

“Estamos atendiendo a esas familias que simplemente necesitan esa ayudita adicional”, dijo ella. “Quizás no califican para comidas gratis o a precio reducido, pero son familias trabajadoras que están teniendo dificultad para afrontar todos sus gastos.”

Algunos padres le han dicho que solamente permiten que sus hijos coman en la escuela dos veces a la semana, cuando el menú incluye sus platos favoritos, porque ellos simplemente no pueden pagar el costo de comer todos los días.

“Estoy sumamente contenta de poder ayudar a esas familias”, nos dijo.

Wallace también dijo que, aunque en el sistema actual no hay manera de que los estudiantes sepan quién está comiendo gratis, es fácil notarlo. Cuando su hijo era más pequeño, ella lo alentaba a comer desayuno en la escuela, pero él se negaba diciendo, ‘mamá, no voy a comer desayuno en la escuela. Eso es para los niños que comen gratis.”

Algunos defensores dicen que ese estigma afecta también a los padres.

En comunidades pequeñas, conoces a la gente que trabaja en la escuela y quizás no quieras decir, ‘necesitamos esta ayuda’ ”, dijo Ashley Wheeland, directora de política pública de la organización sin fines de lucro Hunger Free Colorado.

Para participar en el programa universal de comidas gratis, los distritos escolares de Colorado tendrán que maximizar la cantidad de dólares federales que obtienen solicitando un programa llamado Community Eligibility Provision. Este programa nacional ayuda a cubrir el costo de los programas universales de comidas gratis en las escuelas donde una gran proporción de estudiantes proviene de familias que reciben ciertos beneficios del gobierno, por ejemplo, cupones de alimentos o asistencia financiera con un programa TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). Las familias en esas escuelas no tendrán que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratis o a precio reducido.

Actualmente, 107 escuelas de Colorado en 26 distritos ofrecen programas universales de comidas gratis a través del programa Community Eligibility Provision. En distritos como Harrison y Pueblo 60, que participan a nivel de distrito, muy poco cambiará para el próximo año. Esos distritos continuarán ofreciéndoles comidas gratis a todos sus estudiantes.

No obstante, hasta las escuelas de Colorado que no califican para el programa Community Eligibility Provision podrán ofrecerles comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes el próximo año porque podrán acceder a los fondos provenientes de la Propuesta FF. Las familias todavía tendrán que llenar solicitudes para obtener comidas gratis o a precio reducido.

Algunos funcionarios de distritos dicen que les preocupa que las familias se confundan si tienen que llenar una solicitud de comida para un hijo, pero no para otro que asiste a una escuela elegible para el programa Community Eligibility Provision.

“Me imagino a un padre pensando ‘no lo entiendo’”, dijo Riley.

La idea, dijo ella, es que ambas escuelas están maximizando los fondos federales que reciben para las comidas. El detalle es que lo están haciendo de dos maneras distintas.

Algunos líderes de los servicios de comidas escolares dicen que les preocupa la falta de personal, las interrupciones en la cadena de suministro, y la necesidad de equipo nuevo para acomodar el aumento en la demanda.

Wallace, que está en Jeffco, dijo que siempre es preocupante tener suficiente espacio para almacenar alimentos y capacidad para cocinar, pero que confía que el distrito podrá hacer que todo funcione porque lo hizo durante la pandemia, cuando había más estudiantes comiendo más comidas en la escuela.

Ella dijo que, al aumentar el volumen de comidas, los distritos pueden obtener mejores precios en los alimentos. Esto puede resultar en que, aunque aumenten los precios un poco, se pueda tener mejores frutas, como por ejemplo fresas, por más semanas en el año.

Riley dijo que, con el programa universal de comidas, los distritos también podrán eliminar el inconveniente administrativo de tratar de tratar de cobrar las cuentas sin pagar — cargos incurridos cuando los estudiantes comen en la escuela pero no son elegibles para comidas gratis y no tienen dinero para pagar en ese momento. Desde que volvieron a aplicarse los requisitos de elegibilidad por ingresos, ella dice que ha escuchado de los administradores de comedores escolares que la deuda está aumentando otra vez.

Ann Schimke es reportera senior en Chalkbeat y cubre temas de niñez temprana y alfabetización temprana. Para comunicarte con Ann, envíale un mensaje a aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Más escuelas tienen el medicamento para revertir sobredosis, pero otras se preocupan por el estigma

2023-10-03T22:41:16+00:00

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El año pasado, una estudiante se desmayó al salir de uno de los baños de Central High School en Pueblo, Colorado. Cuando Jessica Foster, la enfermera supervisora del distrito escolar, oyó a los angustiados amigos de la joven mencionar drogas, supo que tenía que actuar con rapidez.

Los socorristas estaban a solo cuatro minutos de distancia. “Pero aún así, cuatro minutos, si no están respirando en absoluto, son cuatro minutos demasiado largos”, dijo Foster.

Foster contó que consiguió una dosis de naloxona, un medicamento que puede revertir rápidamente una sobredosis de opioides, y se la administró a la estudiante. La niña revivió.

A 45 millas de distancia, en Colorado Springs, los funcionarios de Mitchell High School no tenían naloxona a mano cuando un estudiante de 15 años sufrió una sobredosis en clase, en diciembre de 2021, tras inhalar una pastilla de fentanilo en un baño de la escuela. Ese estudiante murió.

Desde entonces, el distrito escolar de Colorado Springs se ha unido a Pueblo y a docenas de otros distritos en el estado para suministrar a las escuelas intermedias y secundarias la medicación que salva vidas, a menudo conocida como Narcan, uno de sus nombres comerciales. Desde la promulgación de una ley estatal en 2019, Colorado cuenta con un programa que permite a las escuelas obtener el medicamento, normalmente en forma de aerosol nasal, de forma gratuita o a un costo reducido.

Sin embargo, no todas las escuelas están de acuerdo con esta idea. Aunque más distritos se han unido desde el año pasado, sólo alrededor de un tercio de los distritos de Colorado se habían inscrito en el programa de distribución estatal al inicio de este año escolar. Y en la docena de condados con las tasas de mortalidad por sobredosis de drogas más altas del estado, muchos distritos escolares no se habían inscrito debido al persistente estigma en torno a la necesidad de tener una medicación para revertir sobredosis.

La Administración de Salud Mental y Abuso de Sustancias federal (SAMHSA, por sus siglas en inglés) recomienda que las escuelas, incluidas las primarias, tengan naloxona disponible, ante el aumento de las sobredosis mortales de opioides, especialmente de la potente droga fentanilo. Y 33 estados tienen leyes que permiten expresamente a los centros escolares o a sus empleados llevar, almacenar o administrar naloxona, según Jon Woodruff, abogado director de la Legislative Analysis and public Policy Association (LAPPA), que realiza un seguimiento de las políticas sobre naloxona en todo el país.

Entre ellos, alrededor de nueve requieren que al menos algunos centros de enseñanza primaria y secundaria, de kinder a doceavo grado (K-12) almacenen naloxona en el lugar, incluido Illinois, cuya norma entrará en vigencia en enero. Algunos estados, como Maine, también requieren que las escuelas públicas ofrezcan formación a los estudiantes sobre cómo administrar naloxona en forma de aerosol nasal.

Rhode Island exige que todos los centros K-12, tanto públicos como privados, dispongan de naloxona. Joseph Wendelken, vocero del Departamento de Salud de Rhode Island, dijo que en los últimos cuatro años se administró naloxona nueve veces a jóvenes de 10 a 18 años en establecimientos educativos.

A principios de septiembre, el medicamento también empezó a venderse sin receta en todo el país, aunque el precio de $45 por envase de dos dosis preocupa a algunos especialistas en adicciones, que temen que esté fuera del alcance de quienes más lo necesitan.

Pero el medicamento todavía no está tan generalizado públicamente como los desfibriladores externos automáticos o los extintores de incendios. Kate King, presidenta de la National Associaction of School Nurses, afirmó que la reticencia a tenerlo en las escuelas puede deberse a que los funcionarios se resisten a prestar un servicio médico, o al costo que supone reabastecerse de naloxona y formar al personal para que la utilice. Pero el principal obstáculo que ha escuchado es que los centros temen ser estigmatizados como una “mala escuela” que tiene un problema de drogas, o como una escuela que tolera las malas decisiones.

“Los distritos escolares son muy cuidadosos con su imagen”, señaló Yunuen Cisneros, directora de inclusión y alcance comunitario de la Public Education & Business Coalition, que sirve a la mayoría de los distritos escolares del estado. “Muchos de ellos no quieren sumarse a este programa, porque aceptarlo es aceptar un problema de drogadicción”.

Esa es la forma equivocada de verlo, dijo King. “Hay que equipararlo a nuestro stock de albuterol para los ataques de asma, o a nuestro stock de epinefrina para el shock anafiláctico (reacción alérgica grave)”, apuntó.

Enfermera supervisora, Jessica Foster, del Distrito Escolar 60 en Pueblo, muestra paquetes de Narcan y Klaxxado. Foster ha presionado para que almacenar Narcan en todas las escuelas del distrito.

Funcionarios de salud de Colorado no pudieron precisar con qué frecuencia se había utilizado la naloxona en los centros escolares del estado. En lo que va de año, al menos 15 jóvenes de entre 10 y 18 años han muerto por sobredosis de fentanilo, pero no necesariamente en las escuelas. Y en 2022 murieron 34 en ese grupo de edad, según el Departamento de Salud Pública y Medio Ambiente del estado. Una de las víctimas fue José Hernández, de 13 años, quien murió en su casa, en agosto de 2022, por una sobredosis de fentanilo, pocos días después de comenzar el octavo grado en Aurora Hills Middle School. Su abuela encontró su cuerpo una madrugada, sobre el lavabo del baño.

Con la llegada de este nuevo año escolar, más escuelas de Colorado tienen suministros de naloxona disponibles para los estudiantes. El año pasado, los legisladores estatales asignaron $19,7 millones en ayuda federal al Naloxone Bulk Purchase Fund, un fondo al que pueden acceder, entre otros, distritos escolares, cárceles, socorristas y organizaciones de servicios comunitarios.

“Es la mayor cantidad que hemos tenido”, señaló Andrés Guerrero, gerente del programa de prevención de sobredosis del departamento de salud del estado.

Según datos facilitados por el departamento de salud de Colorado, 65 distritos escolares estaban inscritos en el programa estatal para recibir naloxona a bajo precio o gratis al inicio del curso escolar. Otros 16 se habían puesto en contacto con el estado para solicitar información, pero a mediados de agosto aún no habían finalizado los pedidos. Los 97 distritos escolares restantes no disponían de naloxona en sus centros o la habían adquirido en otros lugares.

Guerrero explicó que los distritos deciden a quién capacitar para administrar el medicamento. “En algunos casos, son sólo las enfermeras escolares. En otros, son las enfermeras escolares y los profesores”, dijo. “Y, a veces, también los estudiantes”.

En Durango High School, la muerte en 2021 de un estudiante de secundaria impulsó a los alumnos a reclamar el derecho a llevar naloxona al colegio con permiso de los padres —y a administrarla en caso necesario— sin temor a ser castigados.

Hizo falta organizar una protesta durante una reunión del consejo escolar para conseguir el permiso, contó Hays Stritikus, que se graduó esta primavera de Durango. Ahora participa en la redacción de una ley que permitiría expresamente a los estudiantes de todo el estado llevar y distribuir Narcan en los centros escolares.

“El objetivo es un mundo en el que el Narcan no sea necesario”, comentó. “Pero lamentablemente no es en donde vivimos”.

Algunos expertos en salud no están de acuerdo en que todas las escuelas deban almacenar naloxona. Lauren Cipriano, economista de la salud de la Western University en Canadá, ha estudiado la efectividad de la naloxona en los centros de secundaria de ese país. Aunque se han producido intoxicaciones por opioides en escuelas, dijo, las secundarias suelen ser entornos de muy bajo riesgo.

En 2021, un estudiante de Mitchell High School en Colorado Springs, Colorado, sufrió una sobredosis en clase luego de inhalar una pastilla de fentanilo en un baño de la escuela.

Las estrategias más eficaces para combatir la epidemia de opioides son los centros de intercambio de agujas, los lugares de consumo supervisado de drogas y el tratamiento asistido con medicación que reduce el síndrome de abstinencia o atenúa el “viaje”, agregó Cipriano. Pero estos métodos pueden resultar caros en comparación con la distribución de naloxona.

“Cuando el estado crea un gran programa gratuito como éste, parece que está haciendo algo respecto a la epidemia de opioides”, señaló. “Es barato y parece que estás haciendo algo, y eso es oro en política”.

Las escuelas públicas de Denver, el mayor distrito escolar de Colorado, comenzaron a almacenar naloxona en 2022, indicó Jade Williamson, gerente del programa de escuelas saludables del distrito.

“Sabemos que algunos de los estudiantes están a la vanguardia de estos temas antes que las generaciones mayores”, afirmó Williamson. “Saber dónde encontrarlo, y acceder al medicamento cuando sea necesario a través de estos adultos que se han preparado, ya sea una enfermera de la escuela o un administrador, creo que les proporciona una cierta sensación de alivio”.

Los siete distritos más grandes del estado, con más de 25,000 estudiantes cada uno, participan en el programa estatal. En cambio, según un análisis de KFF Health News, sólo el 21% de los distritos con hasta 1,200 alumnos se han inscrito en el programa, a pesar que muchos de esos pequeños distritos se encuentran en zonas con tasas de mortalidad por sobredosis de drogas superiores al promedio estatal.

Algunos distritos escolares han encontrado una forma de obtener naloxona al margen del programa estatal. Esto incluye el Distrito Escolar 60 de Pueblo, donde la enfermera supervisora Foster administró naloxona a una estudiante el año pasado.

El distrito escolar de Pueblo obtiene la naloxona gratis de una organización local sin fines de lucro llamada Southern Colorado Harm Reduction Association. Foster dijo que intentó inscribirse en el programa estatal, pero encontró dificultades. Así que decidió seguir con lo que ya funcionaba.

Jessica Foster, enfermera supervisora para el Distrito Escolar de Pueblo, en Colorado, posa en Central High School. El año pasado, Foster administró Narcan a una estudiante que se desmayó fuera de uno de los baños de la escuela.

El distrito escolar RE-1 del condado de Moffat, en Craig, Colorado, obtiene la naloxona de un centro local de tratamiento de adicciones, según Myranda Lyons, enfermera del distrito. Lyons contó que capacita al personal de la escuela sobre cómo administrarla cuando les enseña RCP (reanimación cardiopulmonar).

Christopher deKay, superintendente del Distrito Escolar Ignacio 11Jt, dijo que su personal de recursos escolares ya llevan naloxona, pero que el distrito también se inscribió en el programa estatal, para que las escuelas puedan almacenar el medicamento en la enfermería en caso de que el personal de recursos no se encuentre cerca.

“Es como todo, como capacitar en seguridad contra incendios. Nunca sabes lo que va a pasar en tu escuela”, señaló deKay. “Si ocurre lo impensable, queremos ser capaces de responder de la mejor manera posible”.

Esta historia se produjo con la colaboración de El Comercio de Colorado.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Newark parents have long complained about school lunches. This coalition is looking to change that.

2023-11-14T21:45:26+00:00

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School gardens, culturally diverse foods, and options that reflect not only dietary restrictions but also students’ preferences: These are just a few of the things the Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools hopes to see in the near future.

Now, thanks to a $3.8 million grant from Novo Nordisk, a health care and pharmaceutical company, these changes might be possible.

According to a press release announcing the coalition’s launch, the program’s first year will likely include the planting of more school gardens, further funding for partnerships with local farmers, and in-school nutrition education, among many other initiatives.

The coalition will use the funding across three years with the first year serving as a baseline assessment to test the greatest needs.

Newark families have long complained about school meals, citing processed and unhealthy lunches. This is a step towards changing that.

The coalition, which officially launched on Oct. 26, is headed by the Greater Newark Conservancy, alongside partners Common Market, FoodCorps N,J., Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, R.W.J. Barnabas Health, United Way of Greater Newark, and the Urban Agriculture Cooperative.

The conservancy has worked to promote environmental, social, and racial justice in the Newark community since 1987, putting on family events centered around nutrition education, leading community garden initiatives, and between July and October, welcoming the Newark community to their expansive farm stand.

Over the course of its community work, the conservancy found that families were generally unhappy with the meals being served to children in Newark’s public schools.

In recent years, Newark’s school breakfast and lunch programs have been met with mixed reactions. While families have complained of processed, unhealthy meals, the N.J. Department of Agriculture has praised Newark’s meal services on several occasions.

In a September press release, the N.J. Department of Agriculture food and nutrition division director Rose Chamberlain said, “The Newark Public School District sets an excellent example of how a high-quality school lunch program can work.”

But in October 2021, just days before the N.J. Department of Agriculture gave similar praise to Newark’s food programs, parents complained of “horrible” lunch options for their children, most notably through an online petition.

The coalition is hopeful that some of the parents’ demands can now be met.

Between August and October of this year, the coalition surveyed a 100-person sample of community members, students, school staff, and food providers in order to assess the issues most pressing in Newark’s school cafeterias.

The survey showed that access to “from-scratch” food in students’ lunches was the most requested change. Survey respondents took issue with the frequency at which students are served heavily processed meals.

Other common complaints included a lack of meals reflecting students’ cultures, insufficient nutritional education, and inaccessibility of green space or gardens.

Natasha Dyer, executive director of the Greater Newark Conservancy, said that over the next three years, the coalition will spend about half of the Novo Nordisk funding fortifying existing programs and the other half on piloting new initiatives.

For now, Dyer said, the coalition’s work will take place in a select number of schools: Hawthorne Avenue, Avon Avenue, Mt. Vernon, Lincoln, McKinley Elementary, Thirteenth Avenue, Harriet Tubman, and Peshine Avenue.

“Luckily, our funding partner is allowing us the flexibility to adjust our plans as we go. Our goal in the first year is to assess our programming and figure out what works with the hope of leveraging policy in the district as a whole,” said Dyer.

Sarah O’Leary, the Greater Newark Conservancy’s director of youth and family education, said her personal hope is that the coalition’s work will get more students excited about health and nutrition.

O’Leary said that when children are given the opportunity to try healthy food they do not normally eat, they often discover they like it. She said that cafeteria “taste tests” of seasonal vegetables are particularly fun for students who may not have access to certain foods at home.

“For example, kids love spaghetti squash! Then they go home and tell their parents about it and that can lead to healthier meals even outside of school,” O’Leary said.

Community gardens have a similar effect, said O’Leary. Being surrounded by plants and green space, along with understanding the value of nutritious local produce, can be important for a student’s development.

“It’s exciting for kids to eat something they grew,” O’Leary said. “Getting to use tools and get their hands dirty to actually grow their own food is the best marketing for nutritious eating.”

Samantha Lauten is a fall reporting intern for Chalkbeat Newark covering public education in the city. Get in touch with Samantha at slauten@chalkbeat.org or reach the bureau newsroom at newark.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Circle City Prep celebrates opening of new cafeteria with scratch kitchen and culinary lab

2023-11-10T20:21:12+00:00

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Jonnah Davidson walked into his school’s new cafeteria on Wednesday thoroughly impressed.

The new Circle City Prep cafeteria — known in school as “C3″ — is part of a $1.5 million investment the school made with the help of philanthropic donors to provide a new scratch kitchen with an on-site chef and a new learning laboratory space for the school’s after-school culinary club.

The project also included an overhaul of what students get to eat for lunch. Last year, the school began to transition from prepackaged, reheated food, like warmed-up pizzas, to fresh produce and meals made at the school. Students can choose fresh kale salads, something from the produce bar, and other options.

It’s a big deal for Circle City Prep, a school on the far east side, where family income levels qualify nearly every student for free or reduced-price lunch and many residents struggle with access to grocery stores and fresh food. The school and its community partners hope the new cafeteria and food lab will not only help students discover new food options, but also be open to the community as it addresses food insecurity as a whole.

The cafeteria space, with its sleek new seating, opened to students for the first time last month. During the construction, students were eating food in classrooms.

“This year, it feels like everything’s just new,” said Davidson, a sixth-grader. “I actually went into the kitchen one time and helped make a pizza. I feel like there’s more options.”

The project drew on assistance from the Patachou Foundation, a local nonprofit that works to address hunger. The group helped ensure the project complied with federal regulations for the National School Lunch Program, which covers the cost of lunch for students from low-income families.

Circle City is one of the foundation’s first “PataSchool” sites, where the group supports a transition from prepackaged meals to fresh food prepared on-site.

“Food insecurity is not just about scarcity. It’s a profound issue of justice,” Matthew Feltrop, executive director of the PataSchool program at the Patachou Foundation, said in remarks at the school celebration on Wednesday. “Merely providing food to prevent starvation perpetuates the cycle of poverty, and the real challenge is to break the cycles through innovative approaches and sustainable strategies.”

At Circle City Prep, the foundation’s in-kind aid includes help with recipes, training for kitchen staff, and help with operating the school cafeteria, Feltrop said.

The foundation is also helping Adelante Schools at Emma Donnan, a charter school in the Indianapolis Public Schools Innovation Network, for the first time this year.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Meet Harry and Lucy, NYC’s tween wheelchair racers

2023-10-27T20:26:12+00:00

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Harry Houng-Lee has his eye on 2030. That’s when the 11-year-old will be old enough to race in the New York City marathon.

Harry’s family would often wake up early and watch the professional wheelchair racers in the marathon so he could see his own possibilities as an athlete.

Just before the pandemic, the Upper East Sider joined the Rising New York Road Runners Wheelchair Training Program, a free year-round program for New York City kids with disabilities ages 6 to 21. In less than four years, Harry has become a decorated racer, winning four gold medals at the 2023 Move United USA Junior Nationals. He set personal records in all five events.

He practices frequently in Central Park, and loves the feeling of the wind in his hair as he whooshes around, clocking in at about 20 mph when going downhill, he estimated.

“I get to go fast,” Harry said. “Wheelchair racing is a cool sport.”

In a city where accessibility is a constant challenge, the Road Runners’ wheelchair training program focuses on removing barriers. Working with the JDJ Foundation, the program provides custom-fitted racing chairs for the children — which cost upwards of $5,000 — and it also covers transportation costs to the weekly practices as well as the races.

For Harry, being part of the group has opened new doors as his confidence in the sport has grown. Besides traveling the country to national competitions, the sixth grader recently joined the track team at East Side Middle School. He is the only wheelchair racer at his school.

Harry felt fortunate that East Side, his local middle school, was fully accessible — and that it had a track team. He wasn’t able to attend his zoned elementary school, P.S. 198, because the multi-story building had no elevator. Instead, he had to travel to the Upper West Side to P.S. 333, The Manhattan School for Children.

Fewer than 1 in 3 New York City public schools are fully accessible to students with physical disabilities, according to a recent report from Advocates for Children, an organization dedicated to helping the city’s most vulnerable students. The group has been pushing for $1.25 billion to address major gaps in building accessibility in the city’s five-year capital plan, which is expected to be released on Nov. 1. (That funding would allow about half of the city’s schools to be fully accessible, according to the report.)

When Harry started at East Side Middle School, he never doubted that he’d join the track team. He’s well aware of “Tatyana’s law,” federal legislation passed a decade ago ensuring equal access to school sports for students with disabilities.

His mom, Jasmine Tay, reached out to the school about Harry joining the team, and said they were very “encouraging.” Still, she told them not to worry about the cross country season in the fall, since the team trains and competes off-road. She suggested that Harry could wait until track season.

But the school’s gym teacher insisted they could make accommodations, taking the more advanced runners on the road in Central Park so Harry could join, Tay said. They also changed the training routes so the team no longer used stairs.

“Harry was so thrilled, and I was so happy with the effort made for inclusion and just the attitude of the coach to make it work — not only changing the route, but also recognizing where Harry would be faster versus slower than the runners and building that into team drills,” Tay said.

“It was proper inclusion,” she said, “and I was surprised it was that easy — sad, I know.”

The joys of being part of a team

In practices, Harry enjoys zipping by his new school teammates on downhills and straightaways, though he’s not as fast uphill.

But he still enjoys spending time with his teammates he’s known for years from the Rising Road Runners wheelchair program, like Lucy Shannon, 12, from Hamilton Heights.

Lucy also learned about the sport when watching the professional wheelchair racers in the New York City marathon. And on Nov. 2, she’ll get a taste of crossing the marathon’s famed finish line in Central Park along with about 1,000 other kids in a 400-meter dash TCS Run with Champions, earning a medal at the end.

Lucy, too, had five first place finishes in Nationals in the summer.

While she enjoys the competition, that’s not the main draw of the program for her.

“It feels inspiring when I’m racing,” said Lucy, who is home-schooled. “I’m meeting so many new friends on my team.”

That team camaraderie is a big part of the program, said Marissa Muñoz, senior vice president of community impact at Rising at New York Road Runners. There are three coaches for the program, which had about 20 kids participating last year.

“I think it’s a pretty rare thing to have this extracurricular for these young athletes,” Muñoz said.

It’s among three programs run by Rising New York Road Runners where their coaches directly work with kids. The organization mainly works with schools where its free curriculum and professional development is used by school coaches who work with about 60,000 kids across the five boroughs.

Many of the kids in the wheelchair racing program, like Harry, stay with the program for years. Muñoz hopes more children will join the program and continue to build bonds.

“We’re just looking forward to continuing to work with them and grow over the years,” she said. “We want to see them reach their goals.”

For Harry, being around his cheering teammates gives him a boost.

“It makes me feel encouraged and happy,” he said.

And after Harry’s first marathon in 2030, he’s angling to go to the Paralympics in 2032, in Brisbane, Australia, where the Aussie-born tween hopes to represent Team Australia.

Correction: The national competition is called Move United Nationals, not Adaptive Sports USA Nationals, as an earlier version of this story stated.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

N.J. doesn’t have long-term plans to fund school construction in Newark. Who will pay for it?

2023-10-20T10:00:00+00:00

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During the first week of school, temperatures soared into the 90s causing sweltering heat in some of Newark’s oldest buildings with no air conditioners and faulty water fountains.

Parents packed frozen water bottles for their children to cool off during the day while others wondered why some classrooms in New Jersey’s largest school system were unprepared to deal with high temperatures.

“No air conditioner in these schools is crazy,” wrote Jacquetta Thomas last month in a Facebook group after her grandson stained his polo shirt with blood due to a nosebleed caused by the heat. A handful of parents responded to Thomas’ post with their own concerns about hot classrooms and deteriorating conditions in city schools.

But this wasn’t the first time that Newark students dealt with uncomfortable conditions in city classrooms.

Newark’s public school buildings are among the oldest in the state, and Superintendent Roger León estimated last month that it would take more than $2 billion to fully repair and update them. The state is responsible for funding school construction projects in high-poverty districts like Newark, but a judge in a long-standing legal case said the state has not created a long-term financing plan to support the work.

In Newark’s school budget this year, 86.3% of the district’s funding comes from $1.2 billion in state aid, but that money can only fund school operations and education costs. Over the years, state officials have poured money into these projects on a “pay as you go” basis, leaving no room for long-term funding. And in comparison to wealthier school districts in the state, districts like Newark have a smaller property tax base, which limits their ability to bond for school construction projects to supplement the cost.

Now, the state, through the Schools Development Authority, is obligated to fully fund these projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts, including East Orange, Elizabeth, and Paterson. That mandate was a result of a series of landmark decisions dating back to 1985 in the New Jersey Supreme Court case Abbott v. Burke. Those decisions ultimately helped establish the SDA. (The districts often are referred to as SDA districts.)

Formerly known as Abbott districts, the Schools Development Authority’s 31 high-poverty urban school districts are among the poorest in the United States.

In 2008, the state allocated $3.9 billion in funds to the SDA, of which $2.9 billion went to high-poverty districts. That was the largest, and most recent, cash infusion to SDA before Gov. Phil Murphy unlocked nearly $2 billion over the last two budget cycles resulting in 19 new construction projects, and hundreds of building repair projects for districts across New Jersey included in the SDA’s 2022 strategic plan.

But in March, a report submitted by the judge to the New Jersey Supreme Court said the state isn’t doing enough to prove that it will keep funding the SDA and school construction projects. Now, it’s up to Murphy’s administration and state legislature to find a way to fund them.

“There’s an enormous amount of need, and the state is just putting in a fraction of the money that [schools] need,” said Danielle Farrie, research director at Education Law Center.

State delivered nine new schools in Newark since 2006

Newark Public Schools is home to just over 39,000 students across its 63 schools. Its buildings have been crumbling for decades, and state officials have been slow to address the needs.

Dozens of those schools need new mortar and bricks, boilers, and roofs, among other needs. Over the years, parents and advocates have pressured the district to make classrooms more comfortable by installing central air conditioning systems and updating deteriorating buildings. In 2016, the district asked the state to fix more than 100 school buildings but only 11 projects were approved.

Since the state’s Schools Development Authority was established over two decades ago, more than $760 million has been spent on renovation projects in Newark, the most of any school district in New Jersey. But only nine new school projects have been finished, including Science Park High School, rebuilt in 2006, Speedway Avenue Elementary School, rebuilt in 2010, and Elliot Street Elementary School in 2016, which was the first new school built in the East Ward in 104 years.

In 2022, the SDA granted the district two new prekindergarten through eighth grade schools, along with 14 other projects across the state to address high-priority needs and overcrowding. One of those schools is the recently opened Nelson Mandela Elementary School, housed in the former University Heights Charter School building. The SDA purchased the building after the state shut down the school in 2022.

A second elementary school was promised for Newark, but district and SDA officials agreed to move forward with the construction of a new University High School building instead, said SDA spokesperson Edye Maier. The project, which is in the planning stage, is meant to alleviate overcrowding as school officials project the district’s enrollment will continue to grow as the city’s population increases.

The SDA is also working on eight other projects across all SDA districts, which consist of underground vault repairs and demolition, roof replacements, masonry repairs, and stucco repairs and replacement, according to an SDA report released during its October meeting. In Newark, Technology and University high schools, along with Cleveland and Salome Ureña elementary schools, are slated for those repairs, which are valued at roughly $7 million.

In 2022, the SDA also completed structural repairs at Shabazz High School and basement water infiltration at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. The price tag was more than $3.5 million.

The projects are part of Murphy’s cash infusion to the SDA after it authorized almost $1.85 billion for school construction and capital maintenance projects for SDA districts during the 2022 and 2023 state budget cycles. In 2021, $75 million was allocated to districts for capital maintenance and infrastructure projects. Newark received roughly $6.5 million as part of that allocation.

Yet, the funds cover a fraction of facilities improvements in SDA districts. Newark Public Schools is slated to receive more funds for school construction projects as part of the state’s 2024 budget after Murphy allocated another $75 million to the SDA. Those funds have not been disbursed yet, Maier said.

The district is also working on a new assessment of school building repairs and new schools to update its needs since 2016, León has said.

School construction funding up to the state, for now

Newark hasn’t raised its property taxes in the last three years, but school officials have warned that will be an exception rather than the norm moving forward. In recent school board meetings, León has hinted at asking taxpayers to foot the bill for school construction projects.

Through a weighted student formula created under the School Funding Reform Act, New Jersey determines how much aid to send to districts to support education and programming costs across its schools. Newark saw an increase in state aid this year, but it remains $27.7 million short of the budget recommended under the formula, said Valerie Wilson, the district’s school business administrator, during March’s budget hearing.

But state aid calculated under the formula is not meant to pay for school construction or renovation projects.

“You can’t reallocate funding away from staffing and day-to-day operations of a district to fund the facilities needs that are as severe as Newark has right now,” said Farrie from the Education Law Center.

In 2021, the Education Law Center went back to the courts to compel the state to meet its constitutional obligation to fund SDA projects. The court appointed retired Judge Thomas Miller as a special master to write an analysis of the construction projects in those districts.

In his 87-page report, Miller wrote that there is a significant remaining need in the SDA school districts but no long-term plan to fund construction projects.

“The state Supreme Court has clearly said that this is not something that school districts should be funding,” Farrie said. “Newark cannot budget its way out of this hole that SDA has created.”

Last month, in a virtual conversation with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, León said he would need to meet with city and state officials “to really figure out how to grapple and attack” the needs before presenting a bond to city residents. But that solution might not be feasible in Newark.

Wealthier school districts, which have a strong property tax base, often can support a bond for school construction projects, but a city with a smaller property tax base, like Newark, might not have that option.

Newark Public Schools’ operations are supplemented by $138.3 million from local property taxes, or 10.3% of the district’s 2023-24 budget. That number has remained the same for the last three years because Newark taxpayers haven’t seen an increase in their property taxes.

So far, there has been no mention of a bond on the November ballot.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

How an abandoned Brooklyn lot will become a future hub for student learning and urban agriculture

2023-10-10T21:15:58+00:00

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After a decade-long effort, the city will transform a once abandoned lot into a communal gardening and learning space for students and local residents in Brooklyn’s Bergen Beach.

The city broke ground on the 2.2-acre garden last year, and construction is now underway, said District 22 Superintendent Julia Bove, who has been working on the garden’s development for about as long as she’s been a superintendent. The concept came about after Carol Pino, a parent coordinator at P.S. 312, raised concerns about a nearby garbage-strewn lot, which was owned by the city’s Education Department.

“The community saw it as an eyesore,” Bove said. “We decided to make something that would be not only fitting for the students in the community but the adults in the community and the community at large.”

The distinction in scale is a key part of the project, and the community focus will set this “learning” garden apart from a typical school garden, officials said.

Having access to gardens or green spaces — from indoor windowsill gardens to outdoor vegetable beds — has become increasingly popular at New York City schools. Nearly 70% of public school buildings have access to such green spaces, with more than 1,200 schools reporting having a garden in the 2021-22 school year, according to the city’s Education Department.

But the ambitions for the Bergen Beach lot stretch beyond just an individual school, or even the district as a whole, officials said. Plans for the completed garden include a greenhouse, a fruit orchard, an outdoor classroom, a pollinator garden, a composting area, and a central space for farmer’s markets and other community events.

“Learning gardens are uniquely centered in communities, whereas school gardens tend to be insular to a particular school,” said Qiana Mickie, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture.

The effort represents a step forward in urban agriculture and a potential model for other communities across the five boroughs, Mickie said. Though a handful of other learning gardens exist across the city, this is one of the first instances of the city taking an underutilized neighborhood lot and transforming it into a community hub for learning and urban agriculture, she added.

“It’s a really good example of how we can reimagine what farm-to-school is in New York City,” Mickie said.

And the benefits extend beyond just the classroom, she added.

“It becomes a place of resiliency,” Mickie said. “There are some natural co-benefits that come with a learning garden: flood mitigation, stormwater mitigation, access to growing, places for respite and healing.”

Those qualities could be especially important as New York City faces the effects of climate change. P.S. 312, the nearby Bergen Beach school where the effort to build a learning garden originated, was forced to evacuate after severe rainfall and flooding recently caused a smoking boiler.

(The school reopened shortly after the storm, and the “vast majority” of water issues across city schools were “minor, requiring only mopping,” according to Education Department officials.)

A rendering of what the planned learning garden near P.S. 312 in Brooklyn will look like.

Brooklyn gets back to its agricultural roots

The project has been a community venture from the outset, according to Bove, who remembers begging local elected officials for funding years ago — a request that was met with generosity, she said. In 2020, local elected officials allocated $9 million in funds to the project, according to the city’s Education Department.

With a planned opening in September of 2024, the new garden aims to offer south Brooklyn students a hands-on learning experience. It comes as Mayor Eric Adams has made healthy living a key issue in his plans for the city’s students and residents — and as NYC has received both federal and state grants to expand investments in equitable and locally grown school foods.

The Bergen Beach project also harkens back to New York City’s urban agricultural roots, Mickie said.

“Our five boroughs, historically, were farms or gardens. There was even windowsill growing for folks that lived in apartments,” she said. “But over the years, we’ve gotten disconnected to that, and what happens with students is they start to not know the cycle of their food.”

The learning garden hopes to change that. Students working in the garden will have ownership over plots of land, giving them opportunities to determine what is grown, officials said.

Students will be involved from Day 1, helping to seed the garden and care for the plants, Bove said. Early work, such as planting trees in the orchard, will also give way to future opportunities for students, like apple-picking field trips.

“The students can form a committee and say ‘We’d like to grow snap peas,’ and then learn all about the care and the cultivation of snap peas,” Bove said. “Maybe another school wants to grow tomatoes and spinach. Whatever it is, the idea is that student voices will be heard.”

The goal is to create a space for students from not just nearby schools, but surrounding districts, as well as others outside of school communities.

“We really did not want it to just be a school’s backyard,” Bove said, noting the garden will include local community partners by design.

Residents at a nearby retirement home, for example, could come in on weekends to help maintain the crops while classes aren’t in session, she added.

“Local residents are not only assisting to sustain it during the times that students aren’t there, but that they too can eat the fruits and the vegetables and give back to a community that they have lived in for their whole lives,” Bove said.

And once open, the learning garden can serve as a model for other boroughs and communities seeking to build communal green spaces that students can take advantage of, officials said.

“I see it as one thing that’s really great for a school community and a neighborhood community,” Mickie said. “But it will also become a part of a larger cohesive network — growing the green spaces in New York City.”

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

From hip hop to ‘Top Chef’: How two NYC after-school programs teach students about healthy eating

2023-10-06T19:00:00+00:00

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Kevin, a sixth grader at P.S. 146 in Queens who hopes to one day work as a doctor, said he’s always tried to study nutrition.

But it wasn’t until he participated in the Hip Hop H.E.A.L.S., or Healthy Eating and Living in Schools, after-school program last year that he found an engaging way to learn about it at school.

The program, developed in partnership between Columbia University neurologist Olajide Williams and hip hop artist Doug E. Fresh, relies on music to help teach students about healthy eating.

Though the music seemed “old” in style to 11-year-old Kevin, the lessons still resonated. He remembers the theme song particularly well.

“It was different from classical teaching,” said Kevin. (Chalkbeat is using his first name only for privacy reasons.) “It had more of a fun approach than just sitting there staring at a blackboard.”

What Kevin participated in was one of two after-school healthy eating programs that are being studied as part of a partnership between the after-school provider New York Edge and Columbia University. About 300 students across 20 school sites were provided with either the Hip Hop H.E.A.L.S. program, or NY Edge’s Food Explorers program, with their nutritional choices tracked over the course of 10 or more weeks.

Through the partnership, researchers aim to learn if the educational interventions from these programs can help kids make healthier choices, particularly at chain restaurants.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also prioritized establishing healthier eating habits among the city’s young people. Since the start of 2022, the city has committed $1 million to integrating food education into schools in coursework, after-school programs, and more, according to a recent report.

Most recently, the city started its “Chefs in Schools” initiative, partnering with Wellness in the Schools to develop plant-based, culturally relevant recipes and train New York City public school chefs.

“These meals will provide more than just nutrition,” Adams said at a Tuesday press conference. “They will expose our children to flavorful and healthy eating — because food has to taste good. No one wants to eat boring food.”

Nearly 40% of NYC public school children were overweight or had obesity, with childhood obesity disproportionately impacting Black and Latino students, according to 2019 data from the city’s Health Department. Childhood obesity also increased during the COVID pandemic, studies have found.

To address the situation, researchers aren’t necessarily trying to stop kids from eating at fast food chains, for instance, but to help them make better choices.

Nationwide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires chain restaurants to post nutritional information about their menus. But Williams, who is the vice dean of community health at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said research has found those listings tend to inform the decisions of educated and more affluent individuals at higher rates.

Meanwhile, people who come from lower-income backgrounds or marginalized communities tend to have their purchases driven by other factors, like cost.

“There was even a paradoxical effect where sometimes folks in these lower income communities deliberately purchased the highest calorie items as a way to maximize caloric intake per dollar,” Williams said.

The focus on teaching students to navigate settings like chain restaurants is especially important as many kids in the programs live in “food swamps,” or areas with few healthy food options, Williams said.

“We’d love to have community gardens everywhere. I’d love everyone to get home and have a cooked meal,” he added. “But the reality is many people live in food swamps. They’re going to patronize food swamps, and it’s about how we get them to make better decisions within those swamps — within those limited choices.”

Getting creative in teaching kids about healthy eating

Williams believes that combining music and learning in the H.E.A.L.S program can help change eating choices.

“We all learn our ABCs through music, for example,” he said. “Our studies have shown that leveraging music creates not just immersion, but greater retention, greater learning, and a greater ability to influence behavioral change.”

Meanwhile, the Food Explorers program, which operates at New York Edge’s more than 120 school sites, targets different aspects around healthy eating.

It teaches students foundational nutrition facts, develops practical skills like using kitchen appliances, offers exposure to different cultural cuisines, and expands environmental wellness and agricultural knowledge, said Rachael Gazdick, CEO of New York Edge.

The program also incorporates fun and immersive learning experiences, like simulating the kinds of cooking competitions that students might see on shows like “Chopped” or “Top Chef.”

Gazdick recounted one such session she attended, where students prepared a vegetable pasta dish.

“I expected it to taste terrible, to be honest,” she said. “But they were so serious about it, and so good at preparing it. It was just phenomenal.”

The partnership is a critical step forward in understanding the impacts of each program, Gazdick added.

“Kids can’t perform in the classroom if they’re not feeling healthy, well nourished, and sleeping well,” she said. “All of those things tie into academic performance and overall joy in life.”

Studying kids’ food choices

How or whether students changed their dietary habits over the course of the two after-school programs was observed in two ways, Williams said. First, students were able to choose between different food options at the school sites, with options ranging from apples to Ring Dings. Nutritional information about the offered foods was posted clearly to simulate the menus they might encounter at chain restaurants.

Second, through a partnership with Applebee’s, students received vouchers for free meals.

Researchers tracked what students chose in each instance, though students weren’t aware their orders were being studied.

An initial pilot showed success in influencing student behavior, Williams said. Over the course of the programs, students generally chose more and more foods that had lower caloric intakes and higher nutritional values. Results of the broader study are expected to be finalized by the end of this year.

Students have also taken what they’ve learned in the programs and used it to teach their families, Gazdick added.

“You remember 100% of what you teach, but you only remember a certain percentage of what you hear,” she said. “Students continuing to cook, and take things home, and sharing it all with their parents is another level of this that is critical.”

Kevin, the sixth grader who participated in the program last year, said he’s been able to put the lessons into practice. He finds himself checking nutrition facts more often, sometimes finding sugar in products he didn’t expect, like milk.

“To be in the health field, you need to learn about the basic fundamentals about how to eat healthy,” he said. “I paid close attention, so maybe it can help me in the future with med school and other stuff.”

As for his trips to Applebee’s, Kevin said the program opened his eyes to the vast range in nutrition across different meals.

“Like the mac and cheese,” he said, “I felt that had too much sodium in it, so I chose more proper stuff.”

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

After flubbing flood response, NYC education officials send guidance for a drizzle

2023-10-06T17:52:53+00:00

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After New York City’s Education Department flubbed its response to last week’s historic flooding, the agency appears to be on a course correction — and possibly overcompensating for its recent errors.

In advance of about a quarter-inch to an inch of rain expected Friday, officials sent two emails to principals with detailed guidance on how to respond.

“Our expectation is that this rain will not substantially disrupt the regular school day,” a Thursday night email stated, “but we want to be prepared for any potential impact in our most flood prone schools and on afterschool or weekend programming across the city.”

They sent no such information to principals last week before six inches of rain inundated some parts of the city.

Officials sent a second email Friday afternoon with a “brief weather update” for the weekend, and letting principals know they had discretion on how to handle school-based activities since there would be no system-wide decision.

Schools Chancellor David Banks this week admitted there was communication breakdown in how the city handled its response as floodwaters rose. He promised an investigation into what went wrong.

Banks and Mayor Eric Adams mentioned during a storm-related press conference that schools should shelter in place. But that message was never directly communicated to schools, several principals told Chalkbeat.

Banks promised earlier this week: “We can do better, and I think we will certainly be working to do better next time.”

Mayor Eric Adams also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the city was preparing for heavy rains Friday night and into Saturday.

New Yorkers: periods of heavy rain and potential flooding are forecast late tonight into tomorrow.

We've activated the City's Flash Flood Emergency Plan, proactively staging resources and teams.

You can do your part: https://t.co/bRysa5CObE pic.twitter.com/73nBOjFeiN
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 6, 2023

Some principals thought the email sent to school leaders on Thursday night was overkill, much like when a new mayor, after bungling his first blizzard, reacts to a forecast of snow flurries by salting the roads in advance.

Below is the Thursday night letter that went out to principals.

From: Chief Operating Officer <ChiefOperatingOfficer@schools.nyc.gov>

Sent: Thursday, October 5, 2023 11:05 PM

Subject: < Please Read> Weather Update for October 6 and 7

Dear Principals,

We are writing to share some important information regarding the weather over the next two days.

The National Weather Service has reported that New York City will experience two weather systems that will affect the area with periods of heavy rain and potential flash flooding Friday morning through Saturday evening; at this point, roughly 0.25-1 inches of rain is expected.

Our expectation is that this rain will not substantially disrupt the regular school day, but we want to be prepared for any potential impact in our most flood prone schools and on afterschool or weekend programming across the city. Some guidance is below:

Facilities: School buildings that are prone to flooding/power outages have been identified and will be contacted by the Division of School Facilities; Custodial Engineers (CEs) will receive guidance about the management and sustainability of the building should issues arise. Please connect with your Director of School Facilities (DDF) and your CE about the status of your building. If your building experiences flooding, power outages, or other disruptions to the operations, your DDF, CE, or designated member of your school community can reach out to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at eoc@schools.nyc.govto report the issue. The EOC will contact NYCPS operations and other partner agencies to rectify the issue.
Transportation: While heavy rain may lead to delays, yellow buses are expected to run as usual. Please work with your transportation coordinators on any yellow bus stop changes or changes to drop off and pick up areas. For the latest updates on public transportation, usehttps://new.MTA.info.
Pickup: In anticipation of parents being delayed due to the weather, encourage your teachers to maintain open lines of communication with parents. Teachers should have emergency contact lists for all of their students. Please designate and assign adult staff to an indoor area where students can wait safely if their parents are late for pick-up.
Afterschool and weekend programming: At this point, we are not making any systemwide decisions about afterschool or weekend programming; decisions about whether programming should continue should be made at the site level. We expect outdoor activities will need to be moved indoors.
Building Response Team/General Response Protocols: As noted above, work with your CE to assess building conditions; if necessary, activate your Building Response Team, and invoke the appropriate General Response Protocol.

Feel free to use this information to communicate with your school communities, and please continue to monitor your email for any updates – if circumstances change, we will follow up with another email update tomorrow. As always, please keep your superintendent informed of challenges or needs your school may face during adverse weather conditions.

The safety and well-being of students and staff is essential during inclement weather. We thank you in advance for being proactive, prepared, and flexible in responding to challenging weather conditions, and for everything you do to support your school communities.

Thank you,

Emma Vadehra

Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Chancellor for Operations and Finance

Danika Rux, Ed.D.

Deputy Chancellor for School Leadership

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

More Colorado schools stock drug overdose reversal meds, but others worry about stigma

2023-10-03T22:40:41+00:00

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Last year, a student fell unconscious after walking out of a bathroom at Central High School in Pueblo, Colorado. When Jessica Foster, the school district’s lead nurse, heard the girl’s distraught friends mention drugs, she knew she had to act fast.

Emergency responders were just four minutes away. “But still four minutes — if they are completely not breathing — it’s four minutes too long,” Foster said.

Foster said she got a dose of naloxone, a medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, and gave it to the student. The girl revived.

Forty-five miles away in Colorado Springs, Mitchell High School officials didn’t have naloxone on hand when a 15-year-old student overdosed in class in December 2021 after snorting a fentanyl-laced pill in a school bathroom. That student died.

Colorado Springs’ school district has since joined Pueblo and dozens of other districts in the state in supplying middle and high schools with the lifesaving medication, often known by one of its brand names, Narcan. Since passage of a 2019 state law, Colorado has had a program that allows schools to obtain the medicine, typically in nasal spray form, free or at a reduced cost.

Not all schools are on board with the idea, though. Though more districts have signed on since last year, only about a third of Colorado districts had enrolled in the state’s giveaway program at the start of this school year. And within the dozen counties with the highest drug overdose death rates in the state, many school districts had not signed up in the face of ongoing stigma around the need for the overdose reversal medication.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommends that schools, including elementary schools, keep naloxone on hand as fatal opioid overdoses rise, particularly from the potent drug fentanyl. And 33 states have laws that expressly allow schools or school employees to carry, store, or administer naloxone, according to Jon Woodruff, managing attorney at the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, which tracks naloxone policies across the country.

Among those, about nine states require at least some K-12 schools to store naloxone on site, including Illinois, whose requirement goes into effect in January. Some states, such as Maine, also require that public schools offer training to students in how to administer naloxone in nasal spray form.

Rhode Island requires all K-12 schools, both public and private, to stock naloxone. Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Health, said that in the past four years, naloxone was administered nine times to people ages 10 to 18 in educational settings.

In early September, the medication also became available over the counter nationally, though the $45 price tag per two-dose package has some addiction specialists worried it will be out of reach for those who need it most.

But the medicine still isn’t as publicly widespread as automated external defibrillators or fire extinguishers. Kate King, president of the National Association of School Nurses, said reluctance to stock it in schools can stem from officials being afraid to provide a medical service or the ongoing cost of resupplying the naloxone and training people to use it. But the main hang-up she’s heard is that schools are afraid they’ll be stigmatized as a “bad school” that has a drug problem or as a school that condones bad choices.

“School districts are very careful regarding their image,” said Yunuen Cisneros, community outreach and inclusion manager at the Public Education & Business Coalition, which serves most of the state’s school districts. “Many of them don’t want to accept this program, because to accept it is to accept a drug addiction problem.”

That’s the wrong way to think about it, King said. “We really equate it to our stock albuterol for asthma attacks, our stock epinephrine for anaphylactic reactions,” she said.

Jessica Foster, Pueblo School District 60’s nurse supervisor, holds packets of Narcan and Kloxxado. Foster has pushed to get Narcan in all the district’s schools.

Colorado health officials could not say how often naloxone had been used on school grounds in the state. So far this year, at least 15 children ages 10 to 18 have died of fentanyl overdoses but not necessarily in schools. And in 2022, 34 children in that age group died, according to the state Department of Public Health and Environment. That included 13-year-old José Hernández, who died in August 2022 from a fentanyl overdose at home just days after starting eighth grade at Aurora Hills Middle School. His grandmother found his body over the bathroom sink in the early morning.

With the arrival of this new school year, supplies of naloxone are on hand for kids in more Colorado schools. Last year, state lawmakers appropriated $19.7 million in federal aid to the Naloxone Bulk Purchase Fund, which is accessible to school districts, jails, first responders, and community service organizations, among others.

“It’s the most we’ve ever had,” said Andrés Guerrero, manager of the state health department’s overdose prevention program.

According to data provided by Colorado’s health department, 65 school districts were enrolled in the state program to receive naloxone at low or no cost at the start of the school year. Another 16 had reached out to the state for information but hadn’t finalized orders as of mid-August. The remaining 97 school districts either didn’t stock naloxone at their schools or sourced it from elsewhere.

Guerrero said the districts decide whom to train to administer the medicine. “In some cases, it’s just the school nurses. In some cases, it’s school nurses and the teachers,” he said. “And in some cases, we have the students as well.”

In Durango, the 2021 death of a high schooler galvanized students to push for the right to carry naloxone with them to school with parental permission — and to administer it if need be — without fear of punishment.

It took picketing outside a school board meeting to get permission, said Hays Stritikus, who graduated this spring from Durango High School. He’s now involved in drafting legislation that would expressly allow students across the state to carry and distribute Narcan on school grounds.

“The ultimate goal is a world where Narcan is not necessary,” he said. “But that’s just not where we live.”

Some health experts disagree that all schools should stock naloxone. Lauren Cipriano, a health economist at Western University in Canada, has studied the cost-effectiveness of naloxone in secondary schools there. While opioid poisonings have occurred on school grounds, she said, high schools tend to be really low-risk settings.

In 2021, a student at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, overdosed in class after snorting a fentanyl-laced pill in a school bathroom.

More effective strategies for combating the opioid epidemic are needle exchange sites, supervised drug consumption sites, and medication-assisted treatment that reduces cravings or mutes highs, Cipriano said. But those approaches can be expensive compared with naloxone distribution.

“When the state makes a big, free program like this, it looks like they’re doing something about the opioid epidemic,” she said. “It’s cheap and it looks like you’re doing something, and that’s, like, political gold.”

Denver Public Schools, the largest school district in Colorado, started stocking naloxone in 2022, said Jade Williamson, manager of the district’s healthy schools program.

“We know some of the students are on the forefront of these things before older generations,” Williamson said. “To know where to find it, and to access it when needed through these adults who’ve trained, whether that’s a school nurse or a school administrator, I think it brings them some sense of relief.”

The state’s seven largest districts, with more than 25,000 students each, all participate in the state program. By contrast, a KFF Health News analysis found, only 21% of districts with up to 1,200 students have signed up for it — even though many of those small districts are in areas with drug overdose death rates higher than the state average.

Some school districts figured out a path to getting naloxone outside of the state program. That includes Pueblo School District 60, where lead nurse Foster gave naloxone to a student last year.

The Pueblo school district gets naloxone at no cost from a local nonprofit called the Southern Colorado Harm Reduction Association. Foster said she tried signing up for the state program but encountered difficulties. So she decided to stick with what was already working.

Jessica Foster, pictured at Pueblo’s Central High School, is the nurse supervisor for Pueblo School District 60. Last year, Foster administered Narcan to a student who had fallen unconscious in the hallway outside a school bathroom.

Moffat County School District RE-1 in Craig, Colorado, gets its naloxone from a local addiction treatment center, according to district nurse Myranda Lyons. She said she trains school staffers on how to administer it when she teaches them CPR.

Christopher deKay, superintendent of Ignacio School District 11Jt, said its school resource officers already carry naloxone, but that the district enrolled in the state program, too, so that schools could stock the medication in the nursing office in case a resource officer isn’t around.

“It’s like everything — like training for fire safety. You don’t know what’s going to happen in your school,” said deKay. “If the unthinkable happens, we want to be able to respond in the best way possible.”

This story was produced with reporting assistance from El Comercio de Colorado.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Torrential downpour floods 150 NYC schools, throws commutes into disarray

2023-09-29T17:36:02+00:00

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Torrential rainfall sowed chaos for many New York City schools Friday morning, flooding 150 school buildings and throwing commutes into disarray for thousands of students and staff.

Mayor Eric Adams announced a shelter-in-place order for schools around noon. An Education Department spokesperson said it would lift with dismissal.

“If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now. Some of our subways are flooded and it is extremely difficult to move around the city,” Adams said at a media briefing on the storm.

The downpour, which dumped 5 inches in some parts of New York City by early Friday morning, affected service on every subway line, delayed dozens of school buses, and prompted both Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to issue a state of emergency. Friday’s attendance rate of 77% was significantly down from about 90% the day before.

Schools Chancellor David Banks said a total of 150 school buildings took on water Friday morning, and that one school, Brooklyn’s P.S. 312, was forced to evacuate because of a smoking boiler. Another Brooklyn school, I.S. 228 sent out a message asking parents to pick up students early, but Banks said the communication was premature.

The extreme weather led some parents and educators to question whether the city should have canceled in-person classes. Banks reassured families that schools were prepared to handle the storm.

“We have folks in our schools trained annually to prepare for days just like this,” Banks said, noting that schools were activating Building Response Teams in response to flooding. “While this was a tough day in terms of the rain, our kids are not in danger,” he added.

Many parents and educators reported that the rainwater had seeped into school buildings, flooding cafeterias and basements and leaking in through roofs, forcing students to move classrooms. On some campuses, children were soaked on their commutes to school, school staff reported.

“Some schools are being flooded from the basement up, and some are being flooded from the rooftop down,” said Paullette Healy, a parent leader in Brooklyn who said she’d heard from nine schools that experienced flooding. Several classrooms had to evacuate students, she added.

At P.S. 84 in Williamsburg, the school kitchen flooded, “which is a problem for our cafeteria workers and our kids,” said parent Jessamyn Lee. Fortunately, the custodial staff, she said, seemed to be able to “get the water intrusion under control.”

Meanwhile, at one Manhattan high school, rainwater leaking through a faulty roof forced students to move classrooms, complicating efforts to make up testing that had already been postponed because of tech glitches last week, according to a teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“My school is doing the best they can,” the teacher wrote. “This is just weather and issues out of our control and I feel for the kids.”

Principals received dismissal guidance shortly before 2 p.m., suggesting they make sure that staff and students were aware of alternate exit routes in case of flooding and that they communicate alternative exits to families. Most schools dismiss between 2:20 p.m. and 2:50 p.m.

Public School Athletic League activities were canceled, and principals could decide whether to hold Saturday programs, according to the email.

Concerns about commutes home from school

Meanwhile, for the hundreds of thousands of students and staff trying to get to school Friday morning, the commute was messy and in some cases harrowing.

“The street leading up to my school is completely flooded,” said Leah Ali, a student at Bard Early College High School in Manhattan. “As cars drive past, water reaches their headlights, and waves of water crash over students trying to make it inside.”

Alan Sun, a senior at The Bronx High School of Science, said the school has been affected by the storm. “The ceilings have been leaking water and the cafeteria is flooded,” he wrote in a text message. “Lunch is now being served in the auditorium.” Sun opted to eat in the hallway instead, as the auditorium was too crowded.

This is the corner of my school’s block.

Cafeteria and basement classrooms are flooded with this water. Families literally have to wade through toxic water to drop off their kids and pick them up.

Why does @NYCMayor never plan for emergencies that affect schools??? https://t.co/trhjCjFrsu
— Sarah Allen (@Mssarahmssarah) September 29, 2023

Morning disruptions on nearly every subway line left many students wondering how they’d safely get home.

“With train service suspensions, track fires, and stations flooded, commuting back home to Queens is a serious concern for me,” Ali had said in the morning.

At dismissal, she was still trying to figure out how to get home since her trains were delayed.

“I might be waiting at the station for a while,” she said. “Unfortunately, my school is a 15-minute walk away from the station, and buses aren’t working at the moment, so I’ll be taking an Uber there.”

Sun, who commutes to Bronx Science by subway, also said he was worried about the trek back to Flushing, Queens, at the end of the day. “I’m hoping the flooding in the subway stations won’t be too bad,” he wrote.

In her guidance to principals sent at the end of the day, Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership Danika Rux wrote, “Please ensure that your students who use public transportation have secured routes home.”

State and transportation officials said that getting the subways back up and running was a top priority, but that MTA buses were in operation and that the agency would deploy extra buses as a backup in case train service wasn’t restored by dismissal time.

The disruptions also affected students traveling by road.

The city’s Office of Pupil Transportation reported roughly 140 weather-related school bus delays as of 1 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Major roadways including FDR Drive were closed Friday morning, adding to concerns about disrupted afternoon commutes.

Banks said that the Education Department dispatched school buses early for the afternoon pickup, so they would be ready by dismissal time. School buses sit high enough off the ground that they are less likely to get stalled by roadway flooding, he said.

Mayor Adams defends NYC’s response

The city’s Education Department first addressed the weather conditions late Thursday night in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, advising that schools would remain open Friday and suggesting that families and educators leave extra time for their commutes, take major roads, and not enter flooded subway stations.

No systemwide emails had gone out to teachers or parents as of 1 p.m. on Friday.

Several parents and educators said Friday that the city should have closed school buildings on Friday and pivoted to remote learning, similar to snow days, or at the very least improved communication about the risks.

“It’s quite a lapse in safety and concern when our phones send us messages about life threatening flooding and not to travel,” said the Manhattan teacher. “New York City is unprepared for major flooding as a result of climate change and this is more of the same examples we’re seeing.”

Adams defended the decision to keep schools open.

“This was the right call. Our children are safe in schools,” he said. “There is a big inconvenience when you close the schools.”

Climate change fears prompt worries for school infrastructure

The intensity of the flooding caught some parents by surprise. Avery Cole, whose 5-year-old daughter attends P.S. 11, said she wasn’t aware that the weather was going to be so severe until her phone started blaring with emergency alerts after she dropped her child off.

She also received a message from the school pleading for volunteers to help dry and disinfect its ground-floor classrooms “to prevent mold and save as much furniture as possible.”

Cole said she worries that school buildings aren’t prepared for more intense storms and wildfire smoke stoked by climate change.

“These storms are going to be more dramatic and frequent and schools are bearing the brunt of it,” she said.

Rohit Aggarwala, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, was blunt about the increasing threat of climate change to New York City.

“This changing weather pattern is the result of climate change,” he said, “and the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond.”

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

COVID guidance for NYC schools: Here’s what you need to know for this year

2023-09-12T18:55:36+00:00

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COVID has not disappeared from New York City, but the map showing the daily number of cases among students and staffers across schools has.

The Education Department scrapped the map on Monday.

Officials confirmed that schools are no longer reporting cases, though they said the Health Department would continue to closely monitor cases among school-aged children.

The map had been updated as recently as Monday morning. Three students and nine staffers had tested positive for Covid on Sept. 10, according to the data posted then. But after a reporter inquired about the data, the map was taken down after two years of daily updates.

The move comes amid an uptick in COVID cases across the five boroughs. The city saw a 25% increase from the previous week in the number of patients hospitalized with COVID, reaching 619 on Tuesday, according to a tracker created by the news site THE CITY using state data. There were about 87 cases per 100,000 people, according to New York City’s daily average of the last seven days from the Health Department.

The Education Department has sent out little information to families this year about COVID protocols in schools, but has guidance available on its website.

The department’s guidance remains consistent with latest recommendations from the city’s Health Department, the state, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Education Department officials said.

“COVID remains top of mind for many families,” schools Chancellor David Banks told reporters last week. “So we encourage families to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines. We’re also closely monitoring upticks and ensuring that schools are prepared for an increase in respiratory illnesses in the community.”

Here’s what you need to know about the approach to COVID in schools this year.

What if a student or school staffer tests positive for COVID?

The rules remain the same as last year.

First, if someone tests positive, they should isolate to help prevent spreading the virus to others.

Quarantine should last five days, with the day of the positive test considered Day 0. The student or staffer can return to school on Day 6 if they have no symptoms or the symptoms are improving and they have been fever-free without medication for 24 hours. They must continue to wear a mask indoors until Day 10 following the start of the symptoms or when they tested positive.

The teachers union also has guidance for educators around COVID-related absences.

Do students and staffers still have to mask if they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID?

Yes, according to city guidance. They should wear masks for 10 days when they are not able to separate from others, including at home.

Can I still get an at-home test kit?

Schools will no longer regularly send at-home COVID test kits in students’ backpacks, as they did last year. But they will have kits for those who request them, Education Department officials said.

Many schools might have a stockpile of kits from the past school year. Though the expiration date listed on the box might be past due, it’s possible the tests are still good. You can check the expiration date here by using the lot number on the box. The Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates of a number of test kits, sometimes by up to two years.

Are parent-teacher conferences in person again?

No, under the recent teachers union contract, schools will hold parent-teacher conferences remotely. They may, however, be held in person upon request by parents or caregivers.

Other parent engagement activities, including grade conferences, can also be conducted remotely.

What’s happening with ventilation at schools?

The city is in the midst of its third round of purchasing replacement filters for the air purifiers it bought at the height of the pandemic, Education Department officials said. At that time, each classroom was outfitted with two air purifiers, though questions remain as to whether the city got the best bang for its buck on the purifiers it purchased.

Officials said they have taken multiple steps to improve ventilation in schools, including equipping HVAC systems with MERV-13 filters as well as window air conditioners with MERV-13 filters. They’ve also trained maintenance staff to use anemometers and carbon dioxide readers to check air quality within rooms, and continue to ensure that building ventilation is working as originally designed, they said.

“We have ensured that all ventilation systems are in good working order,” Banks said. “And our custodial engineers are prepared to troubleshoot any ventilation concerns.”

Are COVID vaccines required?

Vaccines are not required, but they are recommended. As of November 2022, 53% of students were fully vaccinated, according to public data.

“Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, along with other proven prevention tools — like masking, testing, and staying home when sick — continue to be our best defense against COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses,” Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said last month in response to the rise of another new variant.

The FDA approved a new round of COVID boosters this week. Anyone 5 years old and up can receive a single dose of the shot, whether or not they’ve been previously vaccinated. Those under the age of 5 can receive the updated vaccine as well, and have different options depending on whether they get it from Pfizer or Moderna.

Alex Zimmerman contributed.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students struggle in hot schools amid heat wave

2023-09-08T10:00:00+00:00

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The night before the second day of classes in Newark, Quera McGilvery placed water bottles in the freezer so her two children could enjoy ice cold water throughout the school day.

But by the time her freshman son, Tyquir, was done with first period on Wednesday, he noticed that the frozen water in his bottle had completely melted. His school doesn’t have central air conditioning or water fountains dispensing cold water and relies on fans or window units to ward off the heat.

With temperatures soaring into the 90s this week, his water was only getting warmer.

Newark Public Schools students returned to classes this week amid a heat wave bringing thick humidity and scorching temperatures to the city of more than 300,000 people. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Newark and the surrounding areas earlier this week while school districts in other parts of the state dismissed students early from school.

This week, Newark residents saw temperatures as high as 97 degrees on Thursday.

Parents such as McGilvery were hoping Newark would issue early dismissals, especially for students who are enduring the heat with no air conditioning and few operable water fountains in the district’s older buildings. Newark Public Schools students followed a normal schedule this week.

“Can you imagine having to travel up and down a stairwell with people everywhere around you in hot weather?” said McGilvery whose son goes to American History High School. “How could you really sit there and think straight in this heat?”

Studies have shown Newark is one of the hottest cities in the nation. The average school building in the district was built more than 90 years ago, and many suffer from inoperable water fountains, outdated boilers, no central air conditioning systems, and dilapidated restrooms.

Rundown buildings can lower students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, make their learning environments uncomfortable. Last year, Newark worked on opening new schools such as Nelson Mandela Elementary School and building new ones such as the School of Architecture and Interior Design.

The district has plans to build more schools and undertake repairs at more than 60 existing schools, but little is known about the work to install central heating, ventilation, and air conditioner systems in older schools such as Lincoln, Lafayette, and Avon elementary schools, among others. The district also approved a nearly $5 million contract to purchase and install touchless water fountains across all district schools but the installation work is ongoing.

Newark Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jacquetta Thomas is the mother of a senior student at Eagle Academy High School, located on the fourth floor of Weequahic High School. Thomas, an alum of Newark Public Schools, says she dealt with no air conditioners and faulty water fountains as a student and also faced the problem with her other son, a now-22-year-old alum of American History.

“We need our kids to go to school to get funding but kids will be uncomfortable sitting in their hot classrooms,” Thomas said.

On the first day of school, Thomas packed frozen water bottles for her son since the water fountains at Eagle and Weequahic don’t work properly, she said. On the same day, her grandson, who goes to Chancellor Avenue, stained his polo shirt with blood after a nosebleed due to the heat.

Thomas said she spoke with Newark’s school business administrator Valerie Wilson and offered to donate window air conditioner units for classes but was told the district was working on other solutions. She doesn’t understand why the problem continues.

“Wilson said she’s been handling the budget for 27 years and for 27 years she couldn’t find money in the budget for an AC?” said Thomas about Wilson, who’s been the district’s business administrator since 1996.

Teachers are also dealing with the effects of the heat wave.

One teacher at Peshine Elementary School, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of losing employment, said the window unit in her eighth grade classroom broke and “it’s been really hot in the hallways.”

On the first day of school, she also got dizzy in her classroom and her students kept asking if they could get an air conditioner. The water fountains at her school do not work properly and cold water isn’t easily accessible, the teacher said.

“Everyone was coming to me asking me if I had water or ice. I felt so bad I ran out,” the teacher said.

Last year, Superintendent Roger León promised that touchless water fountains would be installed districtwide by the start of last school year but the water fountains are found in only a few schools including NJ Regional Day, Newark School of Global Studies, and John F. Kennedy School. McGilvery said she has seen touchless water fountains at other schools but none at American History or University High School where her daughter goes. As of late August, the district reported fountains still needed to be installed in 16 schools.

Since Monday, the Newark Teachers Union has asked the district to let students out early this week and encouraged parents to keep their children home or pick them up early if they felt the need to do so, said union president John Abeigon.

Union officials also encouraged teachers to use their PTO time if they felt unwell, he added. Having no air conditioners in some schools is a recurring problem that happens every year, Abeigon said.

“I’m not blaming the current administration but the neglect of having no AC in schools has been going on for decades,” he added.

Weather forecasts predict lower temperatures for Newark next week but as children continue to deal with hot learning environments, parents such as McGilvery and Thomas will keep freezing water bottles and advocating for their kids.

The district “has billions of dollars and they’re building this building and that building,” McGilvery said. “Worry about the schools you have right now and take care of them.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Most Americans support giving all kids free breakfast and lunch at school, new poll finds

2023-09-07T19:30:00+00:00

Most Americans think that public schools should provide free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of their family income, a new nationally representative poll released this week by YouGov found.

The results come as several states are adopting universal school meal programs, after Congress declined to maintain a pandemic-era policy that provided breakfast and lunch to all students nationally. The apparent popularity of the idea may help bolster the case of state lawmakers and child nutrition advocates lobbying for free school meals for all.

“The pandemic really ushered in a normalization of this policy,” said Danielle Deiseroth, the executive director of Data for Progress, a left-leaning think tank that also found widespread support for universal free school meals among likely U.S. voters in a 2021 poll. “This is a policy that has very strong bipartisan support.”

According to the YouGov poll, conducted in mid-August, 60% of U.S. adults favor providing all students with free lunch at school, and a similar share, 57%, think all students should have access to free breakfast. Most other respondents said that free school meals should only be available to children from low-income families, which is similar to the current federal policy.

Support for universal school meals was especially strong among lower-income adults who earn less than $50,000 a year, and Black and Hispanic adults. Democrats were more supportive, too, with 68% in favor of giving all students free lunch, while 62% of Independents and 47% of Republicans backed that idea.

The 2021 Data for Progress poll found even higher levels of support, with 74% of likely U.S. voters in favor of making breakfast and lunch free for all students on a permanent basis.

Last year, Senate Republicans opposed a proposal backed by Congressional Democrats to keep school meals free, largely due to costs. Nine states are offering free breakfast and lunch this school year, and others are considering proposals to do the same.

The Biden administration took a step in that direction, too, by proposing a rule this spring that would allow more schools to participate in an existing federal program that serves meals to all students in certain higher-poverty schools.

Research has found that universal meals increase access to food at school, including for some low-income students, and reduce grocery budgets for families. There is promising, but mixed evidence on the academic effects.

How states intend to pay for universal free school meals could affect support for the program, though.

So far, one state, Colorado, has adopted universal free school meals after putting the question to voters. There, 57% of voters approved of the measure, which was paired with income tax on individuals who earn over $300,000 a year.

The YouGov poll found that only 24% of U.S. adults would support raising taxes on local residents to pay for schools — suggesting it might be a tough sell to cover the cost of universal meals with higher taxes.

Still, Deiseroth says she could see universal free school meals being part of the national policy conversations ahead of next year’s elections as many families continue to struggle financially.

“Candidates and lawmakers would be politically smart to be embracing policies such as this that can help deliver families relief,” she said. “Keeping kids in school, and engaged, and happy, and healthy is certainly something that many families and parents will be looking for as they’re heading to vote next year.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Denver added air conditioning to 11 more schools this summer. That leaves 43 without.

2023-08-18T23:02:12+00:00

As Denver Public Schools students head back to class amid expected outdoor temperatures in the 80s and 90s, 11 more schools will have air conditioning.

For years, DPS has been chipping away at a long list of schools without cooling. The money to add air conditioning to the 11 schools this summer came from a bond issue passed by Denver voters in 2020. The bond money will also pay for 13 more schools to get air conditioning over the next year. That will leave 31 DPS schools without cooling, according to the district.

Denver frequently sees temperatures in the 90s in August and even September. Last year, more than 30 DPS schools called “heat days” during a streak of hot weather in September. The schools either canceled classes altogether or released students early.

The district has taken other steps to try to prevent students from becoming overheated, lethargic, and even sick in class due to high temperatures. In 2021, the school board voted to push back the first day of school by a week — a schedule DPS maintains today. Most DPS schools start Monday, though some schools that set their own calendars started earlier.

The 11 schools that got air conditioning this summer are:

Fairview Elementary School (Fairview closed this past spring for low enrollment but will host the district’s Next Steps program for students with emotional disabilities this school year.)

Ashley Elementary School

Force Elementary School

Hallett Academy

Smith Elementary School

Valverde Elementary School

Grant Beacon Middle School

Merrill Middle School

Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School and Denver Online High School

Manual High School

West High School

The 13 schools that are expected to have air conditioning by next year are:

Carson Elementary School

Columbine Elementary School

Cowell Elementary School

Denison Montessori School

Knapp Elementary School

Polaris Elementary School

Sabin World Elementary School

Stedman Elementary School

Steele Elementary School

Denver Green School Southeast

McAuliffe International School

KIPP Denver Collegiate High School

Thomas Jefferson High School

Thirty-one Denver schools still do not have air conditioning — and the district has not set aside money to add it. DPS has ranked the schools in terms of priority.

That priority is determined by a combination of factors, including which schools have the hottest classrooms and which schools have the highest percentages of students from low-income families and students who qualify for special education services.

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

More students eating for free as growing number of states offer universal school meals

2023-08-10T21:51:28+00:00

The number of kids grabbing free meals from the San Luis Coastal Unified district is rising.

Before the pandemic, the district of 7,700 on California’s Central Coast served breakfast and lunch to around a quarter of its students each day. But that percentage shot up during the pandemic, when schools nationwide could give free meals to all kids. And it rose again last year, when California launched the nation’s first statewide free school meals program.

Today, between 50% and 60% of students in the district eat free breakfast and lunch each day. That includes students whose families could afford to pay before, and some students whose families struggled financially but “may not appear most vulnerable on paper,” said Erin Primer, the district’s director of food and nutritional services.

It’s a huge relief, Primer said, “to know that those families are taken care of, that I don’t have to get a call from the single mom who missed qualifying by $200.”

What’s happening in Primer’s district is likely to play out in many more schools across the country as several states prepare to launch their own universal meals programs this fall. Nine states will offer free breakfast and lunch to all their students this school year — a notable shift given that no state did so before the pandemic.

While lawmakers in several states have pushed back on the idea, arguing the cost is too high and that families who can afford meals should pay for them, more states are considering such proposals.

“There is a tremendous amount of momentum,” said Crystal FitzSimons, who oversees school nutrition work for the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center. “People didn’t want to go back to the way the program operated before, with lots of kids whose families are struggling not being eligible for free meals, unpaid school meal debt, and too much administrative work.”

(Read Chalkbeat’s accompanying coverage on the research on the impacts of universal free school meals.)

Why states are launching universal school meal programs

Before COVID, a growing number of schools offered free breakfast and lunch to all their students through a federal program meant to help high-poverty schools. In 2019, just under 15 million students attended schools that served free meals through this program, or around 30% of public school children.

But when the pandemic hit, federal officials gave all schools permission to serve free breakfast and lunch to all their students, regardless of families’ incomes. Many states found they liked the reduced paperwork for families and school staff, as well as the diminished stigma for students who ate the meals, since no one could tell which children came from low-income families.

There are other benefits. Past research has shown that serving free school meals to all kids can help families save money on grocery bills and reduce school suspensions. In some cases, it’s also been linked to higher student attendance rates and improvements in test scores.

But that federal permission expired last year, driven in part by congressional Republicans’ concerns about its cost. Similarly, some state lawmakers have stressed that schools have limited resources. They’ve also raised philosophical questions.

“Presumably we espouse individual responsibility,” North Dakota Sen. Michael Wobbema, a Republican, said earlier this year as the state debated whether it should cover the reduced-price copay for school meals. “And at what point in time do we just wave that away and make the state responsible?”

In North Carolina, when Marianne Weant has advocated for universal free school meals with the North Carolina Alliance for Health, fiscally conservative lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed similar concerns.

“We hear a lot: We don’t want rich kids to get a free meal,” she said. To that she replies: “Kids are kids, they forget their lunch sometimes.”

Another argument she’s used: Schools don’t charge kids for other essentials, like textbooks and laptops. “No one asks your mom if they make too much to ride the bus,” Weant added.

But the 2022 shift at the federal level prompted other states to pass laws to keep school breakfast and lunch free.

California and Maine were the first to do so, followed by — in chronological order — Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts. Colorado, notably, put the question to voters, who overwhelmingly said “yes.” Nevada, meanwhile, will use federal COVID relief funds to offer free meals on a temporary basis again this year.

Others may join them. Lawmakers in Illinois approved a universal school meals program in June that the governor is expected to sign soon.

One of the biggest draws of universal free meal programs is that they often increase the number of students who eat breakfast and lunch.

That seems to be happening in California. Last school year, California schools were on track to serve more breakfasts and lunches than they had the prior year, according to state data through April.

Several big California districts, like Los Angeles and Fresno Unified, saw increases in students eating breakfast and smaller upticks in students eating lunch last year, a recent survey by FitzSimons’ organization found — while large districts in other states without free meals saw declines as they returned to charging students.

Kim Frinzell, who directs nutrition services for California’s education department, said schools have reported that increase has come from both families that could pay, and students who qualified for discounted — but not free — meals in the past.

“You talk to people out in the community and it’s like: It’s so great I don’t have to worry about my child having to have money in their account or packing a lunch,” Frinzell said.

In the Sacramento City Unified district, middle-class parents who didn’t qualify for free meals before have said the money they are saving on groceries has helped them save for emergencies or afford other school activities for their kids, like field trips.

“For them to have two meals per day at school makes a huge difference for me,” Sara Goncalves, a teacher’s aide with two children in the district, told the Sacramento Bee this spring.

When more students eat school meals, districts also get more money back from the federal government. That’s allowed Primer in San Luis Coastal Unified to use higher-quality ingredients and a wider variety of popular foods, from blocks of cheese from a local creamery to short ribs from a nearby ranch.

Teachers and principals have told Primer that’s helped improve school attendance in some cases. At the district’s high school for students who are at risk of not graduating on time, for example, the addition of a chicken tamale dish to the menu motivated one student who struggled to come to school to keep showing up.

Just outside of Portland, Maine, the nutrition services director at Westbrook schools, Mary Emerson, has observed something similar. The uptick in meals her district serves has meant she can afford to offer more Halal options — the district serves many immigrant families from Africa and the Middle East — and higher-quality items that kids love, such as all-Maine fish sticks.

Her cafeteria lines are also running more smoothly, now that elementary schoolers aren’t punching in a five-digit code to get free meals. And she no longer has to spend time calling parents to say “oh, you owe $20.”

“I love it,” Emerson said.

Ultimately, some say a divide between states that do and don’t offer universal free school meals will likely remain unless Congress takes broader action.

“The school nutrition programs are national programs,” FitzSimons said. “Kids in Mississippi and South Dakota should have just as much access to school meals as kids who are in Maine and Colorado and California.”

Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

What research shows about universal school meals programs as more states adopt them

2023-08-10T21:51:07+00:00

Maybe there is such a thing as a free lunch, after all.

Chalkbeat recently reported that a growing number of states — including California, Maine, and Michigan — are now offering breakfast and lunch at school to all students free of charge.

Statewide policies like these are new, but the practice of providing universal free meals isn’t. And researchers have been studying this for years. That means we have a good sense of what these state policies will mean for students, families, and schools.

In short, research suggests that universal school meal programs accomplish their main goal: expand access to breakfast and lunch at school. Relatedly, families with children at schools with universal meals are less likely to struggle to afford groceries. Free meals may also reduce lunch stigma and school administrative burdens.

Universal meals may create academic benefits, too: Some studies show that they improve students’ test scores or attendance rates. Here, though, the evidence is equivocal. Other studies do not show clear benefits or only find them for certain groups of students.

Whether providing universal meals is a good idea may not come down to empirical evidence, though, but moral judgments. Critics point to the costs of the program and argue that it may foster dependency on government.

To some supporters of universal free school meals, the academic benefits are nice, but the case does not rest on them.

“It’s fundamentally immoral to suggest that the public should only provide meals to hungry kids if we can prove that we get better scores on math tests,” said Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. “We should provide meals to hungry kids … because we’re a rich country and kids deserve a dignified childhood where their basic needs are met.”

Here’s what we know from research on free school meals.

(Read Chalkbeat’s accompanying coverage on why many states have adopted universal school meals and whether more will follow.)

Universal meals expand access — including for poorer families

Universal free school meal programs do in fact increase the share of students who grab that slice of pizza or fruit cup. One national study found that the shift increased the number of breakfasts served by 38% and the number of lunches by 12%. Other research shows similar increases.

This makes sense: When school meals are free, more students take advantage of them. The shift is significant but not dramatic because many kids already got lunch from school while others will still prefer to bring food from home.

Research also hints at a less intuitive result: Universal meals may benefit students from poorer families. This is more surprising because kids from low-income families already have access to federally subsidized school meals. (Children from a family of four qualify for reduced-price meals if their household income is below $55,500 and free meals below $39,000.)

Still, research in New York City has found that universal access increases participation among students from low-income families in both breakfast and lunch programs.

There may be a number of reasons for this. Reduced paperwork and stigma could lead more students to participate. So could the shift from reduced-price to free meals. And students whose families have modest incomes may be ineligible some years when their families earn a bit more than the eligibility threshold.

Free school meals help families afford food

Research also suggests that universal breakfast and lunch in school affect families’ grocery budget more generally.

One study found that the expansion of free school meals led to a small drop in nearby food bank usage. Another paper found that universal meals reduced families’ grocery bills by 5% each month. Similarly, it cut the share of families considered “food insecure” by 5%, including among families who were previously eligible for subsidized school meals. This suggests, the researchers say, that “the stigma of free school meals may be declining after universal access.”

A third study also found a reduction in grocery spending after universal school meals. This in turn led grocery stores to cut their prices by about 2.5%. “This paper demonstrates that the National School Lunch Program delivers a substantial indirect benefit to communities,” researchers wrote.

Keep in mind: These studies do not consider the costs of universal school meals, which could come through slightly higher taxes or reductions in other government spending. How this is paid for will vary from state to state.

Universal free meals may improve school climate

Advocates have long suggested that offering free meals for all reduces school meal–related stigma — which can come from peers or administrative “lunch shaming” due to unpaid meal debt.

There do not appear to be many studies on this, but one recent paper finds support for the idea. In New York City, universal meals led to reductions in bullying, according to surveys of students.

“What I found pleasantly surprising was that it improves the school climate for all students,” researcher Emily Gutierrez previously told Chalkbeat. “It’s sort of this whole school ripple effect.”

Inconsistent evidence of academic benefits from free meals

Research on the academic effects of free school meals has produced a range of findings.

For instance, studies in New York City found improved test scores due to free lunch, but not free breakfast. In South Carolina, free meals boosted math test scores and attendance rates among elementary school students. There weren’t clear effects for middle schoolers.

In some cases, there were improvements on certain dimensions but not others. A Tennessee study found lower discipline rates, but no impact on test scores or attendance. In North Carolina, universal meals improved attendance rates in elementary and middle school and reduced suspensions in middle and high school, although test score effects were uneven. An Oregon study found declines in suspensions, while a Georgia paper found no impact on attendance.

Broader studies have also produced uneven results. One national study showed that universal meals did not improve test scores overall. But for schools that had low rates of meal participation beforehand, test scores in math improved slightly. Another national paper showed reductions in suspension rates for certain student groups. An experimental study found that universal breakfast programs had no clear impact on test scores, attendance, or tardiness.

Overall, the research suggests that there may be some academic benefits from expanding free meal access. But such gains are not consistent. This is not too surprising. Free meals do not target academics and only change meal access for a small share of students, since many previously got meals at school.

In other words, while policymakers might not want to pursue universal meals as a strategy for raising test scores or other academic outcomes, some improvements might be a welcome side benefit.

Matt Barnum is interim national editor, overseeing and contributing to Chalkbeat’s coverage of national education issues. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

Five key issues facing Memphis-Shelby County Schools as the new year begins

2023-08-07T02:00:00+00:00

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Memphis-Shelby County Schools students return to class Monday for the 2023-24 school year.

This one could be less turbulent than recent years, but no less consequential, as the district confronts key decisions about its next leader, the future of its school buildings, its strategy for improving student academic performance and wellness, and its budget for the post-pandemic era.

Here’s a closer look at five key issues that the district will face this school year:

Search for a superintendent is on — again

MSCS is still seeking applicants for its superintendent job, nearly a year after Joris Ray resigned amid a scandal.

The first attempt to find a leader unraveled, exposing disagreements on the board, fueling public doubts about whether the body could execute a search successfully, and forcing a hard reset.

The board remains committed to the national search it promised Memphians last year. Interim Superintendent Toni Williams, who had once been a finalist for the permanent job, won’t be a candidate. She agreed to drop out of the search under the terms of a new contract she signed to continue as interim leader through another school year.

So far, Take 2 of the search has been consistent with the parameters and the that timeline board members set out in their discussions: The new job posting, which went up at the start of August, reflects the leadership qualities board members collectively decided on, and all applicants will be evaluated against the board’s policy on minimum qualifications.

If the second attempt goes according to plan, applications will close by November, and a new superintendent will be selected by February, with a start date of July 1, 2024. By that schedule, the new superintendent would have a chance to ease into the leadership role during a transition period with Williams, who by that point will have led the district for close to two years.

School building projects will keep students moving

District officials will introduce a new facilities plan this school year that will propose ways to address a backlog of costly maintenance issues. A mix of construction projects, closures, and consolidations will likely affect thousands of students, requiring that some move out of their school buildings and into others.

MSCS is working with More for Memphis, a consortium spearheaded by nonprofit Seeding Success, to develop the plans and establish funding sources.

The plan will describe 110 school investments over the next decade, and officials say they are seeking millions of dollars in private funds for the first five years of facility upgrades and academic improvements. In addition to schools, the district may also consolidate administrative offices, reviving efforts started years ago with the purchase of the old Bayer Building.

Some school communities are already preparing for changes, separate from the new districtwide plan. Under agreements between MSCS and neighboring districts to comply with a new state law, Germantown High School is due to be replaced by a new building in Cordova, mostly paid for through local tax increases. Germantown Elementary and Middle schools will also close in coming years, as will Lucy Elementary School in Millington.

Meanwhile, LaRose Elementary will continue to accommodate students from Cummings K-8, where falling ceiling tiles forced the building to close for repairs just weeks into the 2022-23 school year.

And in Frayser, students at Trezevant High and at MLK College Prep High, which is part of the state’s Achievement School District for low-performing schools, can expect a new high school building in the coming years. Hanley, a K-8 school that was also in the ASD, is returning to MSCS.

The district’s broader plan is likely to address other Memphis schools that are currently in the ASD or expected to exit in coming years.

Academic needs will get a closer look

MSCS will remain focused on improving academic performance for individual students, but changes are also happening at the school and district levels to improve accountability for academics.

While MSCS students are making progress in their recovery from learning losses during the pandemic, math scores still lag, especially for middle schoolers.

And in reading, scores on state standardized tests have rebounded, but proficiency rates for the district have historically been among the lowest in the state. The reading test scores are particularly consequential for third graders, who face the risk of being held back if they don’t successfully complete certain intervention programs.

Interim Superintendent Williams has supported a review of district academic departments and initiatives with a focus on literacy. The review would look at where the district is spending funds for academic programming and assess how effective those programs have been. That assessment would inform the development of an academic plan that board members would monitor each month for progress.

At the school level, the district has expanded its own turnaround program, called the Innovation Zone, or iZone, to include several more schools, including four schools that have returned from the ASD. Schools in the iZone have a longer school day to provide more instruction for students and help the schools perform better overall.

The iZone expansion comes as new accountability measures take effect in Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Education is expected to begin assigning letter grades to public schools this fall, after years of delays.

District will have to adapt to end of some federal funding

MSCS bolstered its budget over the last several years with some $775 million in one-time federal funds to help schools deal with the pandemic and support their recovery efforts. The dollars come from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and are commonly referred to as ESSER funds.

Districts have until September 2024 to spend their funds, so officials have to wrap up the spending this school year.

MSCS has already budgeted funds for academic recovery programs, salaries for educational assistants in early grades, and improvements to schools’ heating and air systems. Early rounds of funding were used to buy computers and tablets so students could learn from home online. (Actual spending in the district has been difficult for the public to track.)

As the federal funds run out, Memphis and other districts across the country will have to decide which programs they can sustain with other funding sources, and which ones they will cut.

But the adjustment will be less harsh for Tennessee school districts, thanks to the state’s new school funding formula, which came alongside a $1 billion increase in education spending. Memphis was projected to receive about $114 million more in recurring funds through the new formula, which takes effect this school year.

City’s crises challenge student health, academic success

MSCS has spent more on social emotional learning and support for students, including new wellness centers as some schools. Mental health employees will get the salary schedule they sought last school year.

Factors outside of the district, though, continue to create obstacles. Youth homelessness in MSCS, for instance, has climbed to its highest measured count in four years, to 2,880 students at the end of the last school year.

Support services for Memphis students and families outside of the classroom have grown in importance since the start of the pandemic.

How Memphis and Shelby County tackle persistent social issues such as violence, policing, justice, and poverty will be a critical factor for student wellness and academic success in the district. Candidates in October’s crowded mayoral election have offered many ideas, including some that mirror existing MSCS programs.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Detroit school officials announce new partners for health hub expansion

2023-08-08T21:54:19+00:00

Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday, August 8 to disclose the Kellogg and Kresge foundations as financial sponsors of Chalkbeat.

Three regional foundations will help fund the Detroit school district’s new series of school-based health hubs, designed to provide students and families with timely and convenient access to medical services.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Children’s Foundation will provide the Detroit Public Schools Community District with a combined $1.8 million to develop 12 health hubs in neighborhood schools across the city, district officials announced Monday at a news conference at Detroit’s East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney. (The Kellogg and Kresge foundations are supporters of Chalkbeat.)

The newly announced donations are in addition to the $2.76 million already earmarked from the Ballmer Group. Earlier this month, DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti announced at a community meeting on mental health and school safety that the health hubs would begin in the 2023-24 school year.

In addition to East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney, the first health hubs will be launched at Southeastern High School, Osborn High School, Central High School/Durfee Elementary-Middle School, and Western International High School/Maybury Elementary School.

The remaining hubs will be launched in the next two school years.

At Monday’s news conference, Vitti heralded the health hubs as an “innovation” that will help the district in addressing chronic absenteeism, in which students have missed 10% of the school year, or 18 days.

In the 2021-22 school year, DPSCD recorded a 77% rate of chronic absenteeism, up from 63% before the pandemic, largely stemming from COVID quarantine and close-contact guidance the district observed that year. The district’s rate dropped to 68% this past school year; a positive direction, Vitti said, but still short of the district’s goal.

The health hubs, he added, will provide students and families within a three-mile radius of the site direct access to physical, mental, and dental health services that might otherwise impact a student’s attendance record.

“We had to move to a place of problem-solving, we can’t just accept these numbers,” Vitti said. “

“We believe resources can be provided best, most efficiently, with less bureaucracy, with less red tape in our schools because that’s where our children are at, and often that’s where our families are most comfortable.

“Our data is very clear: when students are absent less than nine times throughout the school year, they’re anywhere from three to five times more likely to be at grade-level performance in reading and math or to be college ready at the high school level.”

Andrew Stein, president of the Children’s Foundation, echoed the superintendent’s remarks.

“We know firsthand the need for the holistic suite of supports that the health hubs are providing,” Stein said. “And in particular, the critical role that a school nurse plays in really any school-based health strategy. The data is clear on the role nurses play in attending the physical and emotional health of students.”

The Children’s Foundation’s investment will support the creation of the health hub at Central High School, as well as funding school nurses at Central and four other DPSCD schools.

The Kresge donation will help fund the 12 health hubs, as well as establish a health hub at the School of Marygrove. Meanwhile, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will support oral health services at all the health hubs and launch a districtwide oral health clinic in northwest Detroit.

The first five school health hubs will be phased into buildings during the school year. Each site will have a designated full-time coordinator who will assist students, families, and community members with accessing services. The hubs also will partner with local health care providers Ascension, Henry Ford Health, and the Institute for Population Health to staff the physical and behavioral health services at each location.

The coordinator will also work in tandem with school-based or districtwide attendance agents, to refer students and families to the health hub after phone calls home determine what barriers are preventing a student from coming to school.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s how NYC families can find free summer meal sites

2023-07-27T21:30:11+00:00

For many New York City families, the summer months come with added stress, as kids are out of schools where free meals are provided each day.

Across the five boroughs, free summer meal sites are working to alleviate that concern — and thanks to a texting service, families can quickly find the nearest site for their children. So far, the city has served more than 3 million meals, a pace matching last year, according to the city’s Education Department.

Summer meals are offered at a range of public schools and other community sites, serving free breakfast and lunch to anyone 18-years-old or younger. Other locations include city pools, parks, camps, nonprofit organizations, and more.

Families can text “FOOD” (or “COMIDA” for a Spanish-language service) to 304-304 to receive a list of the nearest free meal sites. No registration, documentation, or identification is required to access free meals.

The texting service comes from No Kid Hungry, a national campaign of the organization Share Our Strength. It compiles information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state agencies, and school district websites, giving families convenient options nearby, according to a spokesperson for the campaign.

Families can also search city sites using an education department search tool.

Hunger issues have continued to impact families in the city, with nearly three-quarters of New York families reporting it was harder to afford groceries this past year, according to a recent No Kid Hungry poll.

In a statement, Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York, called the free meals program a “critical lifeline” for struggling families.

The texting service also includes information about how to get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, which if eligible can provide families with additional monthly funds for food. The city, however, has been the subject of a lawsuit over delays in processing SNAP benefits.

Free summer meals will be offered at city sites until Sept. 1. Meals must be eaten on site at most locations, though some allow pick-up.

[Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter for the latest news on NYC public schools.]

Across the summer months, the city typically serves more than 7 million meals, schools Chancellor David Banks said at a press conference last week.

“We serve at parks and pools and schools,” he said. “Wherever the people are, our office of school food nutrition is there responding to the need.”

This summer, New York City public school families will also receive $120 per child in pandemic food benefits, according to state officials.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

New wave of funds to teach 6,000 kids to swim at NYC public school pools

2023-07-11T14:54:18+00:00

This story was originally published on July 11 by THE CITY.

A bigger pool of city money will help up to 6,000 more kids learn to swim this year — while also training teens to become lifeguards amid a continuing shortage at public beaches and pools.

As part of the new city budget, the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Learn to Swim program is set to receive a $5.3 million boost which will, for the first time, open public school pools for free lessons and significantly increase swimming-class enrollment.

The expansion, which is included in the $107 billion spending plan agreed on by the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams late last month, would benefit up to 6,000 youngsters, in addition to the 4,600 who learned to swim last year, according to a Parks Department spokesperson.

Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue touted the lifesaving value of knowing how to swim and providing broader access to pools.

“We’re building swim equity across the city, bringing more kids and teens access to swimming instruction in their own neighborhoods,” Donoghue said in a statement.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams pushed to fund more swimming lessons in her State of the City speech in March, with other Council members calling to open pools at public schools year-round. Council members also introduced bills to build more municipal pools, with a focus on underserved neighborhoods, although that could cost much more in the city’s capital budget, a spending plan for long-term, big-ticket items.

Students from various schools will participate in the programs, a Parks Department spokesperson said, though it’s not yet clear which pools will be used.

“When our students know how to swim, they can not only participate in fun and enriching water activities in the summer, but more safely move about their communities and this great city,” said Jenna Lyle, a Department of Education spokesperson.

Still Seeking Lifeguards

The program also will train teens who already know how to swim to be lifeguards, as the city grapples with its second straight summer shortage of lifeguards.

As of last week, a Parks Department spokesperson said 11 miles of beaches and dozens of outdoor pools were staffed by 750 lifeguards — about half the number desired.

The new funding will allow the Parks Department to hire 105 people, including 20 full-time aquatic specialists and 30 lifeguards, the spokesperson said.

The city’s seasonal guards — who work summers at the city’s beaches or outdoor pools — will be eligible for year-round gigs, according to the Parks Department.

The new money will also pay for new equipment and renting private pools in neighborhoods without Parks Department or public school pools.

A 2017 Health Department survey found that, in the five boroughs, a third of Black and Asian students, and a quarter of Hispanic students can’t swim — and “affordability and accessibility to swim lessons is critical for everybody,” said Shawn Slevin, the founder of the nonprofit Swim Strong Foundation.

Last week, a 14-year-old boy drowned at Rockaway Beach after the lifeguards whistled people out of the ocean because of a storm.

In May, two young boys drowned in the Hudson River, which has no lifeguards.

Slevin’s organization, founded 17 years ago, offers swim lessons and teaches New Yorkers of all ages about water safety.

While Slevin said she was encouraged by the city’s recent investment, she said a bigger splash is a must in a city surrounded by water.

“We simply do not have the appropriate infrastructure to teach our citizens how to be safe in, on, and around the water,” she said.

PODCAST: Wake up call on school start times

2023-07-10T21:05:04+00:00

This originally aired on The Bell’s Miseducation podcast on June 5.

My classmates are not happy with my school’s 8:20 a.m. start time, and honestly, neither am I. I’ve missed that first bell so many times. I had 12 tardies and 4 detentions in the past quarter alone, just from being late. And I’m not just late, I’m tired. When I get home, I’m physically exhausted, my bones hurt, and I just want to go to bed straight away.

But as a junior, each month is very important. College applications, SATs, and the course work keeps getting harder. I just have too many responsibilities: homework, the internships I need for college applications, and the side jobs to support my family.

School start times are a policy choice.

Who’s calling the shots when it comes to school start times? Is student health and well-being even on the agenda? To get some answers, I chatted with sleep experts, fellow students and even the head of my school.

Join me as I navigate through the maze of early mornings, shedding light on the detrimental impact of sleep deprivation on our lives. Will we ever see efforts to start school later? What needs to be done? Trust me, this is one podcast episode you don’t want to hit the snooze button on.

Jose Santana reported this story for The Bell’s Miseducation podcast as a high school junior. He lives in the Bronx.

More school-based health centers are on the way in the Detroit school district

2023-07-05T11:00:00+00:00

The Detroit school district is set to launch new school-based health centers in the next three years to provide students and families medical resources and services they need to attend school regularly.

District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti shared details about the “health hubs” during a recent virtual public meeting on mental health and public safety.

“We want to try to address as many of the challenges that get in the way of students attending school every day, and just generally better support our parents who are facing extreme levels of poverty,” Vitti said at the June 21 meeting.

An intake person at each health hub will field questions and direct patients to dental, medical, and mental health services.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District will receive $2.76 million from the Ballmer Group to help launch 12 health hubs in high schools. The philanthropic corporation was established by former Microsoft CEO, current NBA team owner, and metro Detroit native Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie.

Vitti has said a dedicated hub in school buildings would help address chronic absenteeism — when students miss 10% or more of the school year. In the 2021-22 school year, Detroit’s chronic absenteeism rate was 79%.

The health hubs will differ from the school-based health centers that are already in place at 16 DPSCD schools, according to Vitti. In addition to providing physical and behavioral health services, health hubs also will provide dental services, vision and hearing screenings, and other health-related services.

They will be open to students at that school, family and community members, and K-12 students from surrounding schools.

Soon the health hubs also will include “parent resource centers” that provide legal services, eviction help, energy bill assistance, and access to winter coats, toiletries, and transportation to families in need, Vitti said.

At a school board committee meeting in January, Vitti cited health hubs as “our greatest need outside of the [school] budget, and the best use of philanthropic dollars.”

Ballmer’s charity previously has given to Michigan’s largest school district. In 2019, it donated $5.9 million to DPSCD to help launch its student data portal.

School health clinics envisioned as ‘hub of the community’

School-based health centers have been in Michigan since the 1980s, but the outbreak of COVID and increasing concerns around student mental health have increased their relevance across the state.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services funds over 230 school-based or school-linked health care programs. In the $21.5 billion K-12 budget for the fiscal year 2024, Michigan lawmakers allocated $33 million for school-based health centers, as well as an extra $45 million for facility upgrades of current centers.

But there has been pushback in some Michigan communities. The Grosse Pointe Public School System board in January tabled plans to create a school based health center, citing concern over potential legal and financial problems tied to the project. And a proposal to place a health clinic inside Oxford High School was canceled when a health care provider learned that a majority of community members did not support the proposal, noting a lack of trust with school officials and concerns about the cost of funding a clinic.

Typically, school-based health centers involve an agreement between local health care providers, such as a hospital system, a school district, and the state. All three parties share the costs.

Ascension, Henry Ford Health, and Institute for Population Health will be among the local health care providers running the health hubs, Vitti said. Those organizations will completely staff the physical and behavioral health services provided at each location.

Providing health care at neighborhood schools could be an invaluable resource, some Detroiters said.

Franklin Hugle, a junior at Cody High School, said he believes health hubs could be more convenient for students required to take physicals to participate in sports. Under the district’s plan, Cody would become a health hub for families and students in the northwestern part of the city.

Parent Shante Tyus, whose kids attend Cody, said she thinks a health hub would be helpful for children suffering from minor illnesses or those in need of early screenings for major diseases. As a teenager, Tyus’s older sister discovered she had Crohn’s disease, which caused her to miss multiple days of school. Early testing may help families and school officials in determining how to accommodate students with chronic health conditions.

Cody “is the hub of the community,” Principal Jason Solomon said. The school conducted eye exams earlier this year and provided glasses to about 125 students. Expanding those opportunities for medical care, Solomon said, would give kids and their families more reasons to come to school.

The first five health clinics are set to launch in the next school year, including the School at Marygrove, which will operate a health hub through the school’s P-20 partnership. The remaining seven schools are targeted for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.

In selecting the 12 schools, Vitti said, the district ensured that every student would be within 3 miles of a hub.

The 12 health hub are proposed for:

Central High School/Durfee Elementary-Middle School
East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney
Southeastern High School
Western International High School/Maybury Elementary School
The School At Marygrove*
Cody High School
Denby High School
Henry Ford High School
Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School
Mumford High School
Northwestern High School
Osborn High School
Pershing High School

* Marygrove will run its health hub in partnership with an outside organization and is not included in the 12-school total.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

NYC public schools go remote Friday due to pollution from wildfire smoke

2023-06-08T17:27:32+00:00

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New York City public school students will shift to remote learning on Friday, as wildfire smoke prompted a third straight day of disruption to school operations.

Most students — including those in preschool, elementary, and middle school — were already scheduled to be off for “Clerical Day.” But high school students, and children who attend schools that run from grades 6-12, were slated to attend school in person on Friday. Those students, about 290,000 total, will now shift to remote instruction, city officials said Thursday.

Educators may conduct their lessons remotely, but some staff members — including custodians and some food workers — will be required to report to their buildings.

Early childhood programs that contract with the city have the option of switching to remote instruction on Friday, according to education department officials. Charter schools make their own decisions about whether to switch to remote instruction.

The decision to pivot to remote learning was considerably less fraught than for a typical school day, since the city’s youngest students were not part of the calculation. Switching to remote instruction can create significant burdens for working families who may struggle to arrange child care at the last minute, but that is less of a concern with older students.

It is also likely that in-person attendance would have been low tomorrow since students were already off on Thursday due to a previously scheduled staff training day.

The wildfire smoke wafting from Canada has disrupted school operations since Wednesday, when city officials canceled all outdoor activities, including recess and field trips. Students were not scheduled to attend school on Thursday because it was a previously scheduled staff training day. The education department pivoted to deploy those teacher training programs virtually instead.

City officials stressed during a press conference on Friday that the intensity of wildfire smoke can be difficult to predict days in advance, but they suggested that conditions are likely to improve.

“There’s a chance for significant improvement by tomorrow morning and throughout the day tomorrow,” Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday morning.

New York City registered some of the worst air pollution on record Wednesday, raising questions from some observers about whether the city adequately prepared students and schools to contend with intense air pollution.

Local health officials continued to recommend staying indoors, including people who are more susceptible to air pollution such as children, the elderly, and those with existing health and breathing problems. People who must go outside should wear high-quality N95 or KN95 masks, officials said.

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Newark classes resume after closures due to unhealthy air quality alerts

2023-06-09T15:16:27+00:00

Update 06/09/2023: Newark Public Schools resumed classes on Friday, June 9 and central office employees returned to work. Recess and other outdoor activities will be held indoors as a precautionary measure, the district said.

Newark Public Schools and central office will be closed on Thursday as the smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to impact New Jersey and the surrounding areas.

The district made the announcement on its Facebook page just after midnight on Thursday. Unhealthy air quality conditions are expected to continue Thursday, and as of 7 a.m., Newark and nearly the rest of the state were under a purple alert, marking very unhealthy air quality conditions for residents.

In the surrounding area, KIPP Newark schools, North Star Academy schools, Irvington and Elizabeth school districts also announced they canceled classes on Thursday. Districts like Jersey City and Bloomfield decided to remain open and canceled recess along with outdoor activities during and after the school day on Thursday.

On Wednesday, New Jersey experienced the worst air quality in decades. Smoke from the millions of acres burning in Canada began to enter Newark and the vicinity on Tuesday evening. Red alerts were issued for Essex and the surrounding counties for unhealthy air conditions that day. On Wednesday, some areas of New Jersey experienced low visibility due to the smoke and saw an orange haze as air quality levels worsened in the afternoon.

Experts said inhaling smoke and ash from wildfires could cause damage and irritation to the body, lungs, and heart. The city of Newark urged residents to stay indoors when possible and advised sensitive groups such as young children, elderly residents, and people with asthma to stay indoors. The risk is higher for communities such as Newark, where people are exposed to higher levels of pollution and are twice as likely to develop asthma, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Northern New Jersey reached very unhealthy air quality levels at 1 p.m,. with an air quality index reading of 205 in Newark as heavy smoke enveloped the region. The air quality index continued to rise as Newark and the tri-state area saw hazardous conditions reaching air quality index levels of more than 301 on Wednesday afternoon.

New Jersey state offices closed at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday due to worsening air quality conditions and will have a delayed 10 a.m. opening on Thursday.

Residents can check their local air quality at the AirNow website, which provides state, local and regional updates.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

School clinics bolster students’ mental health. So why aren’t there more?

2023-06-08T11:00:00+00:00

Her daughter’s anxiety was spiraling out of control and Jaquetta Johnson couldn’t find help.

Last fall, as the Delaware fourth grader’s acute anxiety kept her from concentrating in class, a doctor gave Johnson a list of children’s therapists. But all were fully booked, some with wait times of six months to a year.

Then Johnson heard about a new health clinic inside a school in her daughter’s school district south of Wilmington. Johnson enrolled her daughter, and soon she was receiving counseling.

“When nobody else would see her,” Johnson said, “she was able to get help at school.”

Nationwide, nearly 2,600 health centers operated out of schools in 2017, the most recent year with available data — more than twice the number that existed two decades earlier. Some 6.3 million students in more than 10,000 schools had access to the centers, according to the School-Based Health Alliance.

School-based health centers offer free services — from flu shots and physicals to contraceptive care and talk therapy — that students can access without need of insurance or a trip to the doctor’s office. The vast majority offer behavioral health care, which is increasingly in demand as students’ mental health challenges mount.

“The mental health needs: It’s across districts, it’s across states, it’s across the country,” said Cheri Woodall, health and wellness supervisor in the Colonial School District, where Johnson’s daughter attends school.

Now, as many schools buckle under the weight of those needs and some community providers cannot meet demand, on-campus health clinics are attracting new attention.

Health clinics have operated out of schools for decades. At last count, there were nearly 2,600 school health clinics nationwide.

Last month, Minnesota became the 21st state to fund school clinics, according to the alliance. Many governors, including those in Ohio and Georgia, used COVID recovery money to launch school health centers, and some federal lawmakers want to boost their funding.

But despite the renewed interest in school clinics and the explosion of student needs, they remain under-funded and hard to keep afloat. Many clinics operate at a loss and must be subsidized by hospitals. Financial challenges are a major reason why just 1 in 10 public schools have access to health clinics, even as decades of research show they improve student health and academic outcomes.

“While there’s a lot of research supporting how beneficial it can be to bring this model into schools, there’s still not enough of them across the country,” said Samira Soleimanpour, a senior researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies school clinics.

School clinics spread, bolstered by evidence they work

Delaware established its first school health clinic nearly 40 years ago, partly as a way to curb teen pregnancies. Today, it is the only state to require a health center in every traditional public high school.

But when David Distler became principal of Eisenberg Elementary School in the Colonial School District about a decade ago, none of the state’s elementary schools had a health clinic. Distler believed that students’ untreated medical conditions and trauma contributed to the school’s attendance and discipline problems. So when the district superintendent proposed opening a clinic at Eisenberg, Distler jumped at the idea.

It launched in 2016, becoming Delaware’s first health clinic in a traditional elementary school. Housed in a converted classroom, it features an exam room, a counseling office, and a lab that can run urine, blood, and saliva tests. Nemours Children’s Health, a nonprofit that operates pediatric hospitals and clinics, staffs it with nurse practitioners, social workers, and a psychologist.

The medical assistant at Eisenberg Elementary School’s health clinic checks a student’s blood pressure. The clinic offers physicals, vaccinations, counseling, and other free services to students.

Some team members rotate among the district’s seven other elementary schools, so that students at every campus can access care. Parents simply need to enroll their children in the clinic — no insurance, copays, transportation, or time off work required.

School staffers also refer students. They can recommend counseling sessions for a child who lost a loved one, ask a clinician to intervene when a student’s unmanaged illness is causing frequent absences, or send a student with a sore throat to be tested for strep throat and, if positive, prescribed medication.

“It’s just so nice to have that support here,” said Michelle Rosseel, Eisenberg’s school nurse. “It works beautifully.”

Lorena Sandoval, the clinic’s medical assistant, recalled a student whose family had recently moved to the U.S. The boy needed a physical and immunization shots to start school, but his family lacked insurance and most doctor’s offices were booked solid. The school wellness center was able to see him within days, and soon he was taking classes.

Distler watched attendance and behavior at his 400-student school improve as more children received medical care and counseling. The number of “discipline referrals” for serious misbehavior plummeted from 1,000 annually when he arrived at Eisenberg to around 100 per year now, Distler said, which he attributes partly to the center.

“You’re getting those high-needs kids the help they need,” he said.

Principal David Distler credits the health clinic at Eisenberg Elementary School with helping improve student behavior and attendance.

Researchers have found that school health clinics boost vaccination rates, reduce emergency room and hospital visits, and can lower rates of teen pregnancy and depression. They also appear to improve student grades and attendance, and reduce disparities by making health care more accessible to Black, Hispanic, and students from low-income backgrounds.

In addition to primary care, such as check-ups and asthma management, about 1 in 5 school clinics provide dental care and half offer reproductive health services to teens, including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections tests, according to a 2021 survey.

Behavioral health is a major focus: 80% of clinics offer support for students struggling with anxiety, substance use, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health challenges.

“For our most vulnerable students, that might be their only care,” said Katy Stinchfield, director of behavioral health programs at the School-Based Health Alliance. “If they don’t get it at school, they don’t get it.”

Many school health clinics operate at a loss and must rely on sponsor organizations to keep them afloat.

Despite support, school clinics struggle to stay afloat

Today, health clinics are as commonplace in Delaware’s public high schools as libraries and cafeterias. Yet funding remains a perennial challenge.

State aid covers about half of the clinics’ annual operating costs, according to a 2021 state task force report. The clinics also bill Medicaid and private insurers, but some students aren’t insured, certain services aren’t covered, and clinics don’t bill for confidential services, such as sexual health care. Also, only about 1 in 5 eligible Delaware students enroll in the clinics, according to a state analysis, limiting the number of billable services provided.

The result is a net loss of $22,000 per year for the average high school clinic and a gaping $300,000 annual deficit for elementary school clinics, which until recently did not receive state aid. The nonprofit hospitals that manage the clinics must make up the difference.

The same scenario plays out in other states, including New York, whose latest budget allocates about $21 million for the state’s more than 250 school-based health centers. The state grants and insurance reimbursements rarely cover a center’s full operating costs, said Dr. Viju Jacob, medical director at Urban Health Plan, a nonprofit that runs 12 school clinics in New York City.

“In my 19-plus years of being in the school-based health center world, I think one year we hit even,” he said. “But the organization believes in the mission, so we continue.”

Congress budgeted $50 million for school health clinics this fiscal year, but only about half are eligible. Advocates have urged Congress to quadruple that amount to $200 million in next fiscal year’s budget, which is currently being negotiated, and extend eligibility to all clinics.

More than 90 members of Congress have joined the call for more funding. Among them is Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat and former governor of Delaware who has long championed school clinics.

“We’ve been a model, and actually showed that this is not just a good idea, but one that works,” said Carper, who accompanied U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on a visit to Eisenberg’s health center last fall.

Tina Kline is raising her grandson, John, a second grader in the Colonial School District in Delaware. A social worker from the school health clinic provided the family with food and clothes.

But the likelihood of a federal funding boost dwindled last month, when leaders of both parties agreed to a debt-ceiling deal that would freeze most domestic spending — meaning schools can’t count on Washington to keep their clinics open.

Delaware officials say they remain committed to school health centers. In 2020, the legislature began funding clinics in elementary schools with the greatest needs.

“It is a key component of public health,” said Leah Jones Woodall, who oversees school clinics for the state’s health and social services department.

The Colonial School District spends $675,000 annually to maintain its elementary school clinics, and recently it secured a $200,000 grant from the county to open its first middle school clinic later this year. Eventually, students will be able to attend schools from kindergarten to graduation where health care is just down the hallway.

The clinics have also expanded their offerings. Last fall, Nemours Children’s Health hired a social worker, Dwane Budheah, who assists families with everything from food to housing — non-medical needs that play a big role in children’s health.

A few months ago, he contacted Tina Kline, who last year began raising her grandson John, a second grader, and his older sister. Kline was struggling to make ends meet on her fixed income, so Budheah accompanied her to the school pantry to load up on food and household items. Later, he brought John a new winter coat, a jacket, jeans, and socks.

“It made me feel good,” Kline said, “that somebody cared enough to help.”

Patrick Wall is a former senior reporter at Chalkbeat.

NYC schools go remote Thursday for staff training as wildfire smoke engulfs region

2023-06-07T22:12:02+00:00

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New York City educators will not be expected to report to their buildings in person on Thursday, as wildfire smoke from Canada engulfed the region in a thick haze leading to the worst air pollution on record.

They will instead participate virtually in staff training on what’s known on the school calendar as “Anniversary Day/Chancellor’s Conference Day,” according to a text message the teachers union sent to its members on Wednesday.

Students were already scheduled to be off from school.

“The DOE, with our encouragement, is making Chancellor’s Conference Day tomorrow fully remote for all staff,” the text message said. (The union sends texts to teachers to let them know about cancellations and snow days.)

New York City schools Chancellor David Banks confirmed the move at a press conference alongside Mayor Eric Adams Wednesday evening.

The air quality index hit 484 at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Adams said. It was believed to be the highest index level since the 1960s.

Anything above 300 is considered hazardous, officials said. The index tops out at 500.

Adams encouraged all New Yorkers to remain indoors, if possible, especially elderly and younger children.

The decision to switch to remote staff training came after pressure from educators, who launched a petition, and Rita Joseph, a former teacher and leader of City Council’s education committee. City officials signaled earlier on Wednesday afternoon to prepare for a remote pivot, telling staff to bring materials and laptops home with them.

Still, some schools operate programs for children in partnership with community organizations on staff development days. Whether Department of Youth and Community Services-funded programs such as COMPASS, Beacon, and Cornerstone open on Thursday is up to the program’s discretion, city officials said. If they’re running, all activities should be indoors. The programs should check with their school partners about whether the building will be open. If it’s closed, these programs may offer remote activities, if they elect to do so.

Gov. Kathy Hochul indicated on Wednesday that the smoke could continue for days and described the situation as an “emergency crisis.”

Officials said they would make a decision on Thursday about Friday’s school schedules.

“We’re taking it day-by-day,” Banks said.

Elementary and middle school students were already scheduled to be off from school on Friday for “Clerical Day.” Students attending standalone District 75 schools, which serve children with more complex disabilities, also have the day off.

But thousands of students attending high school are scheduled to report to buildings on Friday.

The wildfire smoke has already disrupted some school programming. On Wednesday, city officials canceled outdoor school activities, including athletic competitions, recess, and field trips — a decision that was announced on Twitter just before midnight on Tuesday. Banks also postponed a town hall meeting in the Bronx.

Health officials have warned that the polluted air poses greater risks to young people, the elderly, and those with pre-existing breathing issues, such as asthma. Nearly 1 in 10 public school students in grades K-8 have “active asthma,” according to the city’s health department, though the rates are higher among Black and Latino students and disproportionately affect children living in low-income neighborhoods.

The city’s health commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, said children may be susceptible to air pollution because their lungs are still developing. Officials urged residents to stay indoors.

“Right now, our health guidance to all New Yorkers is to limit outdoor activity as much as possible,” Vasan said. “For people who must be outdoors, a high quality mask like an N95, a KN95 or a KF94 is recommended.”

Vasan expressed concern for New Yorkers who were feeling rattled by the air pollution.

“If you feel anxious, if you feel worried, that’s totally understandable,” he said. He encouraged New Yorkers to call the 988 crisis hotline for help, if needed.

Amy Zimmer contributed.

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools cancel outdoor activities due to smoke from Canadian wildfires

2023-06-07T17:13:39+00:00

Newark Public Schools canceled outdoor recess and activities on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires enveloped the area.

School business administrator Valerie Wilson emailed school principals late Tuesday night about precautionary measures they should take in light of the unhealthy air quality in Newark. The city of Newark is also urging residents to take precautions during this time.

“We are monitoring this matter very carefully and with the guidance of health officials will make notifications of any changes,” said Nancy Deering, the district’s acting communications director, “Also, as a precautionary measure, all recess activities are being held inside.”

On Tuesday evening, red alerts were issued for Essex and surrounding counties for unhealthy air conditions as smoke began to enter the area from the hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada. On Wednesday morning, New Jersey residents woke up to smoke still clouding the area and state officials are expecting worsening conditions this afternoon.

Inhaling smoke and ash from wildfires could cause damage to the body, lungs, and heart, experts say. That could pose a special risk for communities such as Newark, where people are exposed to higher levels of pollution and are twice as likely to develop asthma, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

The city of Newark is urging residents to take precautions as unhealthy air quality levels affect the area.

The district is using air filters in school areas due to the smoke and asked principals to ensure all windows remain closed on Wednesday. The city is also advising residents to stay indoors as much as possible and use an air purifier if one is available.

Due to unhealthy air conditions, sensitive groups such as young children, elderly residents, and people with asthma are advised to stay indoors.

Wilson’s email to principals did not mention safety precautions for students with asthma but nearly 600 employees districtwide are trained to support these students. While 1 in 10 kids across Essex County have asthma, in Newark, the rate is 1 in 4, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. In 2016 and 2019, two Newark children from the same school died of asthma attacks.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Newark Teachers Union posted a message on its Facebook page advising against outdoor recess today and recommending that asthmatic children and adults wear a mask outside.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness continue to monitor the air quality and will issue updates as needed throughout the day.

Residents can check their local air quality at the AirNow website, which provides state, local and regional updates.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NYC’s air pollution from wildfire smoke forces schools to cancel outdoor activities

2023-06-07T12:02:37+00:00

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New York City’s education department canceled all outdoor activities Wednesday, as wildfire smoke wafted from Canada and created unhealthy air conditions across a swath of the Northeast.

Recess, Public School Athletic League sports competitions, and outdoor field days were all canceled, Nathaniel Styer, an education department spokesperson, wrote on Twitter late Tuesday evening. Schools were encouraged to move those activities indoors if possible.

“This is a developing situation and will communicate updates as they come,” Styer wrote.

City officials said that schools will remain open.

Schools will be open today.

We urge everyone to reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

All NYC Public Schools will be canceling all outdoor activities today.
— NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) June 7, 2023

Health authorities have warned that the smoke laden air is particularly harmful to more vulnerable groups, including young children and people with existing health conditions and breathing issues. They have urged people to stay indoors when possible and avoid strenuous outdoor activities.

Styer noted that schools were advised that “special attention be made to vulnerable students and staff populations.”

City officials said that the region’s air quality was expected to improve Wednesday morning but would deteriorate again in the afternoon and evening.

“Currently, we are taking precautions out of an abundance of caution to protect New Yorkers’ health until we are able to get a better sense of future air quality reports,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “These recommendations may change based on updated air quality conditions that come in, but, in the meantime, we recommend all New Yorkers to take the precautions they see fit to protect their health.”

Officials said that people who need to be outside should wear a high-quality N95 or KN95 mask.

Air purifiers can also help reduce the harmful effects of wildfire smoke. During the coronavirus pandemic all classrooms were outfitted with those devices, though schools have not always used them consistently as the virus has receded. Experts also previously questioned whether the devices the city purchased were the most effective available.

The education department’s facilities team will be reaching out to school custodians to provide guidance regarding air conditioning and filtration, according to a letter sent to principals on Wednesday morning from Emma Vadehra, the education department’s chief operating officer.

She also said that the department was “coordinating closely” with the city’s health department, emergency management office, and other agencies on monitoring the situation and whether there may be changes to the “operating status” for school staff on Thursday’s Anniversary Day/Chancellor’s Conference Day, which is a day off for students.

One assistant principal said on Wednesday morning, “We’ve only had one teacher with asthma call out, but it’s sure to affect attendance rates. I’m sure some parents are keeping kids home.”

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

More food education and plant-based foods: Here is NYC’s vision for healthier students

2023-06-06T19:36:03+00:00

Which New York City schools have cafeterias with salad bars? Which serve halal meals? Which have gardens?

The education department quietly launched a school kitchen dashboard last month, giving parents and students a chance to learn what their schools offer. The website is part of a larger vision Mayor Eric Adams shared Tuesday about teaching students more about healthy eating — his latest effort to steer New York students towards a better diet.

New York City’s food education report includes plans to expand education programs on nutrition, develop a greater consumption of plant-based foods, and establish further culturally responsive food options.

Those improvements will encourage students toward healthier foods, helping combat high rates of health issues in a city where nearly 40% of public school students are overweight or obese, according to the report. Officials noted childhood obesity disproportionately affects Black and Latino students, putting them at greater risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma.

Currently, 815 of the more than 1,800 public schools in the city do not have a food education program, with particularly low rates among high schools. That means more than 40% of all public K-12 schools in the city lack a food education program — defined by the city as combining education strategies and environmental supports to motivate individuals to adopt healthier food choices and behaviors.

Food education “permeates learning and the student experience throughout the school day, as well as before and after school,” according to the report. “It can take many forms, from hands-on food preparation, school-wide assemblies, classroom-based learning, field trips to farmers markets or botanical gardens, school garden-based lessons, and more.”

City officials plan to develop a guidebook, convene a council, and offer staff and student training on food education in an effort to spread knowledge across schools.

Adams has repeatedly pushed to improve school food, introducing vegan lunches on Fridays shortly after he took office, and considering a ban on chocolate milk in schools — ideas that have not always been popular. His administration has also committed $100 million to cafeteria improvements and expanded halal meal services in schools, according to the report.

Tuesday, Adams relied on a common refrain in announcing the city report, once again claiming to have reversed his own diabetes through a change in diet. Adams, who follows a mostly vegan diet, has often turned to his own health struggles to explain the urgency of his food initiatives.

Schools Chancellor David Banks also recounted a story from his youth, noting how his own research in high school led him to cut red meat from his diet — a lesson he has passed onto his children.

“Children stop me sometimes in the street and say, ‘I want my pizza and my hot dog,’” Adams said. “But there’s going to come a time when these young scholars are going to look back at this moment, and they’re going to say this was the right thing to do.”

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Detroit students contract bacterial infection in recent batch of illnesses, officials say

2023-05-08T18:20:11+00:00

A recent spread of student illnesses that forced Detroit’s Marcus Garvey Academy to close last week may be partially traced to the bacterial infection haemophilus influenzae, according to Detroit school district and health officials.

The school reopened to students and staff Monday as parents expressed concerns about their children’s safety and district transparency about student illnesses. As Garvey students trickled into the building, staff met them at the door to offer masks and perform temperature checks.

Last week, the district reported that the school had “experienced an unusually high rate of flu-like symptoms including student fevers, and vomiting” among its early grade students. Garvey was subsequently closed Wednesday for the remainder of the week as district custodial staff cleaned and disinfected the entire building.

DPSCD notified the public earlier last week that Jimari Wililams, a kindergarten student from Marcus Garvey Academy, had died. A medical examiner had not yet determined the cause of death, district officials said.

In a follow-up statement on Monday, Chrystal Wilson, spokesperson for the Detroit Public Schools Community District, said the school had at least three confirmed cases of haemophilus influenzae, a bacterial infection that can contribute to other illnesses such as ear infections, pneumonia, and meningitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The infection typically affects children under 5, elderly people, or those who are immunocompromised.

The CDC recommends that children under the age of 5 get multiple shots of the haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine.

“We are asking parents to actively monitor their children’s health and ensure that students stay home if they have flu-like symptoms,” said Wilson. “As always, we need to ensure that students are fully vaccinated with all of the state’s immunization requirements to attend school.”

A nurse is on site at Garvey to monitor student health and assist students, staff, and families if students feel ill while at school, she said.

Students, staff return to Garvey amid ongoing health concerns

Garvey students are encouraged to wear masks for the coming weeks, school officials said. Mask-wearing is not mandatory because the school does not currently have COVID protocols, said Garvey Principal Wakeita Winston, who spoke Friday during a virtual informational meeting for Garvey families and staff recorded by local TV station WXYZ.

“We have put our thermometers back at the doors so we can screen children as they come into the building,” Winston said, “because sometimes a child may feel okay but they may have a (high) temperature.”

In Friday’s virtual session, Detroit Health Department Medical Director Claudia Richardson told families and staff that some children appeared to have contracted haemophilus influenzae. The department is recommending preventive medication for students with confirmed cases as well as symptomatic children, household members of students with cases, and staff members.

Garvey families with sick children are urged to visit their medical provider, Richardson added. Students who do not have a primary care doctor can receive the preventive medication at an Ascension health clinic located inside of Garvey Academy. Starting Monday, health department letters will be available at the school’s main office to grant permission for doctors to provide affected students and staff with the medication.

Winston stressed that the school will be “cautious as we go through the next couple of weeks.” Staff, she added, will be around the building to remind students to wash and sanitize their hands properly.

From her car parked across from Garvey on Monday, parent Erica Thompson watched hesitantly as her daughters entered the building.

“I’m a little nervous, they almost didn’t come today,” Thompson said. “But they assured us that they sanitized the building. The thing is we don’t even really know what was the cause of the illness.”

Thompson’s reminder to her kids: “I told them to keep their hands sanitized and to just keep their masks on at all times.”

Both Thompson and Mia Bynem, a parent of three children at Garvey, are hoping district and school officials can provide better communication to parents moving forward.

As early as last Monday, Bynem said, one of her children’s teachers suggested she not send her kids to school. News had already spread among staff about students showing flu-like symptoms far in advance of the school officially closing the building.

That stressed out Bynem, whose youngest child is in preschool at Garvey and has asthma. Anything more serious than the common cold could potentially weaken his immune system.

“Why are we just now being notified?” Bynem said. “It’s not fair to do things last minute.”

In Friday’s virtual information session, Deputy Superintendent Alycia Meriweather told parents the district has provided updates to families via robocalls.

“We believe stopping the transmission, cleaning, and then monitoring are our paths forward here,” said Meriweather on Friday. As early as May 1, Meriweather said, the district had received several reports of pre-K and kindergarten students who were not feeling well.

“We have 106 schools and right now we’re fortunate to have a nurse in every school,” she said. “Every day there are students across our district who have illnesses or don’t feel well, those reports come in through the nurses.”

The health department said in a news release on May 3 that its officials are working closely with DPSCD and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services “to monitor and trace all reported illnesses among students at that location.”

The department urged parents of children ages 4 to 7 to seek medical care promptly if their child experiences fever, headache, lethargy, nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

Mysterious illness at Detroit elementary school sickens students, prompts school closure

2023-05-04T17:41:08+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.

Flu-like illnesses among a number of students at Marcus Garvey Academy prompted school administrators to shut down the school until Monday so the building can be cleaned and parents can monitor their children’s symptoms.

A district official said one student at the school, a kindergartener, has died. But it’s unclear whether the death is connected to the mysterious illness.

“At this time, the medical examiner has not determined the cause of death,” Chrystal Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Detroit Public Schools Community District, said in a statement.

Wilson said that this week, “the school has experienced an unusually high rate of flu-like symptoms including student fevers, and vomiting, namely at the early grade levels.

“We have been actively communicating with the Detroit Health Department about these cases and we have mutually agreed that the best course of action right now is to close the school until Monday,” Wilson said.

The health department said in a news release Wednesday night that its officials are working closely with DPSCD and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services “to monitor and trace all reported illnesses among students at that location.

“We do not yet have confirmation on the cause of the illness, and will share that information with Detroiters once that information has been confirmed,” the health department’s statement said.

The department urged parents of children ages 4-7 to seek medical care promptly if their child experiences fever, headache, lethargy, nausea/vomiting, or abdominal pain.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

As Colorado reels from another school shooting, study finds 1 in 4 teens have quick access to guns

2023-03-27T23:24:23+00:00

This story originally appeared in Kaiser Health News and is republished with permission.

One in four Colorado teens reported they could get access to a loaded gun within 24 hours, according to survey results published Monday. Nearly half of those teens said it would take them less than 10 minutes.

“That’s a lot of access and those are short periods of time,” said Virginia McCarthy, a doctoral candidate at the Colorado School of Public Health and the lead author of the research letter describing the findings in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.

The results come as Coloradans are reeling from yet another school shooting. On March 22, a 17-year-old student shot and wounded two school administrators at East High School in Denver. Police later found his body in the mountains west of Denver in Park County and confirmed he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Another East High student was fatally shot in February while sitting in his car outside the school.

The time it takes to access a gun matters, McCarthy said, particularly for suicide attempts, which are often impulsive decisions for teens. In research studying people who have attempted suicide, nearly half said the time between ideation and action was less than 10 minutes. Creating barriers to easy access, such as locking up guns and storing them unloaded, extends the time before someone can act on an impulse, and increases the likelihood that they will change their mind or that someone will intervene.

“The hope is to understand access in such a way that we can increase that time and keep kids as safe as possible,” McCarthy said.

The data McCarthy used comes from the Healthy Kids Colorado Study, a survey conducted every two years with a random sampling of 41,000 students in middle and high school. The 2021 survey asked, “How long would it take you to get and be ready to fire a loaded gun without a parent’s permission?”

American Indian students in Colorado reported the greatest access to a loaded gun, at 39%, including 18% saying they could get one within 10 minutes, compared with 12% of everybody surveyed. American Indian and Native Alaskan youths also have the highest rates of suicide.

Nearly 40% of students in rural areas reported having access to firearms, compared with 29% of city residents.

The findings were released at a particularly tense moment in youth gun violence in Colorado. Earlier this month, hundreds of students left their classrooms and walked nearly 2 miles to the state Capitol to advocate for gun legislation and safer schools. The students returned to confront lawmakers again last week in the aftermath of the March 22 high school shooting.

The state legislature is considering a handful of bills to prevent gun violence, including raising the minimum age to purchase or possess a gun to 21; establishing a three-day waiting period for gun purchases; limiting legal protections for gun manufacturers and sellers; and expanding the pool of who can file for extreme risk protection orders to have guns removed from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms became the leading cause of death among those ages 19 or younger in 2020, supplanting motor vehicle deaths. And firearm deaths among children increased during the pandemic, with an average of seven children a day dying because of a firearm incident in 2021.

Colorado has endured a string of school shootings over the past 25 years, including at Columbine High School in 1999, Platte Canyon High School in 2006, Arapahoe High School in 2013, and the STEM School Highlands Ranch in 2019.

Although school shootings receive more attention, the majority of teen gun deaths are suicides.

“Youth suicide is starting to become a bigger problem than it ever has been,” said Dr. Paul Nestadt, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

“Part of that has to do with the fact that there’s more and more guns that are accessible to youth.”

While gun ownership poses a higher risk of suicide among all age groups, teens are particularly vulnerable, because their brains typically are still developing impulse control.

“A teen may be bright and know how to properly handle a firearm, but that same teen in a moment of desperation may act impulsively without thinking through the consequences,” said Dr. Shayla Sullivant, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. “The decision-making centers of the brain are not fully online until adulthood.”

Previous research has shown a disconnect between parents and their children about access to guns in their homes. A 2021 study found that 70% of parents who own firearms said their children could not get their hands on the guns kept at home. But 41% of kids from those same families said they could get to those guns within two hours.

“Making the guns inaccessible doesn’t just mean locking them. It means making sure the kid doesn’t know where the keys are or can’t guess the combination,” said Catherine Barber, a senior researcher at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center, who was not involved in the study. “Parents can forget how easily their kids can guess the combination or watch them input the numbers or notice where the keys are kept.”

If teens have their own guns for hunting or sport, those, too, should be kept under parental control when the guns are not actively being used, she said.

The Colorado researchers now plan to dig further to find out where teens are accessing guns in hopes of tailoring prevention strategies to different groups of students.

“Contextualizing these data a little bit further will help us better understand types of education and prevention that can be done,” McCarthy said.

Ski day helps Aspen Community School students cope with recent false shooting threats

2023-03-17T16:30:00+00:00

This story originally aired on Aspen Public Radio and is republished with permission.

After a string of school threats over the last month and a half, many students, teachers and families in the valley have been on edge.

The three false threats each happened on a Wednesday morning and schools were bracing themselves for the possibility of another one last week.

A threat didn’t materialize last week, but instead of waiting to find out whether they’d have to secure their buildings yet again, teachers and administrators at the Aspen Community School decided to do something different.

So on the morning of Wednesday, March 8, over a hundred K-8 students gathered for a day of cross-country skiing at the Snowmass Nordic Center.

After students and teachers took a few laps on the trails, ACS principal Casey White called a brief all-school meeting.

“So last Wednesday, you guys probably remember we had an all-school meeting and then shortly after you got the message that we were going to secure the building again,” she said to students and staff. “And you know what I noticed? The kindergarteners were already out cross-country skiing. And all of a sudden an idea hit, ‘Maybe we should all do that.’”

White ran the idea by her staff first, and then alerted families and local law enforcement that they would be doing a school ski day.

“So one week later here we are, we are all out cross-country skiing because you have been so powerful in being able to stay calm and to help us through times that we don’t really know what’s coming next,” she said. “So thank you for coming out here.”

Out on the trails, fourth-grade student Kai Waanders was skiing with a few of his classmates.

“It’s amazing that we get to be out here instead of being inside a school all locked up like the last few Wednesdays,” he said. “It was kind of surprising and a little scary to have such a surprise — it hasn’t happened once last year or the year before.”

While some schools in the area received direct threats and had to go into full lockdowns, the Aspen Community School went into “secure” mode as a safety precaution.

Under a “secure protocol,” all doors are locked and no one is allowed in or out of the main school building while classes continue.

Waanders said that even though he was worried thinking about all the “what ifs,” he also felt safe.

“I knew that we had a community and people that could help us if something were to ever happen, and I knew that we’ve been preparing for it since kindergarten,” he said.

School lockdown drills aren’t the only way that Waanders and his classmates have been preparing for situations like this.

For years, Aspen Community School has been offering what it calls “social emotional” learning.

“It was a group of us on a very grassroots level, sitting around in our old building,” said White. “The question was, ‘What do we want for our ACS graduates? What character traits do we want our students to embody?’”

They eventually landed on five traits that are now the core of the school’s social emotional program: kindness, compassion, empathy, tolerance, and patience.

White said teachers and staff shape their curriculum to help kids learn those skills.

“We feel like when you can embed the tools to be able to self-calm and to navigate social problems and to apologize when needed — when you can do that in a setting that’s not super stressful, like cross-country skiing or a normal day in the classroom, then when something tough comes up, you’ve got the muscle,” she said.

At an all-school meeting at the Snowmass Nordic Center, Aspen Community School Principal Casey White thanks her K-8 students for how well they handled having to remain inside the locked school building during the recent false threats.

ACS also works with Lily Larkin, a licensed clinical social worker and wellness teacher from the Aspen Hope Center.

Larkin is one of the center’s twelve school-based clinicians in the valley and she spends four days a week at ACS.

“One of the things we work on is knowing that when our brains go into a fight, flight or freeze response, we’re not necessarily going to learn effectively in that state of mind,” she said.

When the school went into “secure,” Larkin says teachers created a sense of safety by tailoring classroom activities to how the students were feeling and coming up with projects that weren’t necessarily part of the regular school day.

“So they were doing art projects in the classroom, they were knitting, they were doing a lot of really wonderful hands-on activities to support them in that moment,” she said.

Larkin is also a parent at ACS and she appreciated that teachers went around to each class and told students in an age-appropriate way what was happening, while it was happening.

“So when my first-grader came home after having the experience, she just looked at me and she said, ‘Mom, somebody was trying to scare our school today,’” Larkin said. “And that’s how she described it.”

Some of the social emotional skills the school teaches, such as the “breathing tool” and the “listening tool,” are also helpful for parents.

“When my daughter comes home and she is visibly upset about something, but she tells me that she’s fine, I can look at her and I can say, ‘Sweetheart, if I’m listening with my eyes, ears, and heart, I can tell that there is something wrong — and you don’t have to tell me right now, but I’m here for you and I wanna hear about it,’” she said. “And that’s the ‘listening tool.’”

As a parent, Larkin is especially grateful to teachers who’ve supported families and kids through everything from the pandemic to school threats.

“Teachers are absolutely heroes and they have become, in the last decade or so, first responders,” she said. “It really feels like that has amped up a lot.”

Back at the nordic center, a group of middle-school students who regularly meet with Larkin were taking a ski break.

“Once a week we go down to her classroom and we sit in a circle and she asks us questions and we answer them altogether,” said sixth-grade student Annalise Ingram. “Also if you need some more time, you can just go down and see her anytime.”

Fellow sixth-grader, Anderson Tippet, said he appreciated the questions that Larkin asked them after the recent threats.

“One of them was like, ‘How are you dealing with this?’ ‘What makes you feel better or helps you not be as nervous about it?’” he recalled.

Tippet said he’s realized that having friends close by helps.

“Most of us have been together since kindergarten, so we’re all really good friends,” he said.

For her part, Larkin said she’s impressed by her students.

“They have moved through all of the feelings related to the last few Wednesdays and it’s so fun to see everybody together smiling, falling over, laughing, picking each other up,” she said.

The group of students agreed that they’re also proud of each other and grateful for their teachers and the whole community.

“Even when we were stuck inside, we still got through it really nicely by working together,” said fourth-grade student Cora Chimerakis. “The teachers just made it all happen and I’m really thankful for them — and thank you for the community always being there for us.”

Eleanor Bennett is an award-winning journalist and Morning Edition anchor. Eleanor has reported on a wide range of topics in her community, including the impacts of federal immigration policies on local DACA recipients, the Valley’s COVID-19 eviction and housing crisis, and hungry goats fighting climate change across the West through targeted grazing.

Colorado bill would encourage, but not require, CPR training in high schools

2023-03-15T15:31:00+00:00

This story originally appeared in KHN (Kaiser Health News) and is republished with permission.

A bill advancing in the Colorado legislature would encourage schools to begin teaching students lifesaving skills before graduation, but critics contend it’s little more than a “feel-good” measure devoid of vital requirements and funding.

Colorado is one of 10 states where laws don’t mandate CPR training for high school students, according to the American Heart Association. In February, the Colorado House passed a bipartisan bill to add training for CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to the Colorado Department of Education’s comprehensive health education high school curriculum.

But the proposal stops short of requiring public high schools to adopt the revised curriculum, or subsidizing the effort. Instead, they would be strongly encouraged to implement the training on their own.

“The bill is a noble effort and is something that needs to be done,” said Lynn Blake, vice chair of the Eagle County Paramedic Services board. “However, it’s a feel-good law until mandates and dollars accompany it.”

In 2021, Colorado reported 3,727 cases of cardiac arrest — in which the heart abruptly stops beating — to the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, or CARES, which tracks incidents occurring outside hospitals. This number is likely an underestimate, as the data was collected from less than 80% of the population. Last summer, Colorado became the first state to establish an office within its state health department dedicated to collecting data on cardiac arrest incidents and finding ways to increase survival rates.

Nearly 90% of cardiac arrests experienced outside of a hospital are fatal, according to CARES. CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival if performed immediately after the heart stops beating.

So, the more bystanders who know how to administer CPR, the better, said Blake, who was 27 when she was stricken by cardiac arrest. A woman nearby performed CPR on her, and a few minutes later, paramedics arrived and shocked Blake three times with an AED, which saved her life. A 2022 study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that states that require CPR training in schools have higher rates of CPR being performed by bystanders, thus improving survival rates.

“We have a huge need for people to learn to act quickly in emergency situations,” said state Sen. Janice Marchman, a Democrat sponsoring the bill. “That’s why it would be great to train high school students not just to do CPR, but also to use the AED machines.”

The bill encourages each public school to adopt a curriculum that includes “hands-on” training on performing CPR and using a defibrillator. However, the proposal doesn’t allocate money to school districts to support the training, according to the bill’s fiscal note. A single CPR manikin and AED trainer together cost around $600, according to the American Red Cross store. School districts might be eligible to apply for a comprehensive health education grant, funded by the state education department, to help pay for lessons, Marchman said.

The bill also stops short of making CPR training a graduation requirement for public high schools, leaving Colorado an outlier while 40 other states plus Washington, D.C., command it. Alabama has mandated CPR training for high school graduation since fall 1983, and Iowa has done the same since 2009.

All Colorado public schools are bound by the state’s comprehensive health academic standards, so it’s likely that most schools would abide by the change without making it a graduation requirement, Marchman said.

Colorado Senate Republicans are confident schools will be eager to equip students and teachers with these lifesaving skills, caucus spokesperson Joshua Bly said.

The Colorado Department of Education’s role is to implement policy, not speculate on why CPR and AED training is not mandated in high schools, department spokesperson Erica Grasmick said.

This isn’t the first time Colorado lawmakers have sought CPR training in high schools. A 2012 bill pushed by the American Heart Association tried to mandate CPR and AED training for high schoolers. But the Colorado Association of School Executives opposed the legislation, as its members argued that school districts should be able to “decide what is important at a local level” as they are “tasked with the difficult job of balancing budgets.”

Not mandating CPR and AED training in high schools is a significant loss, said Blake. “If I was the author of the bill, I would require that all students and administrators, teachers, coaches — anyone who is involved with any kind of education — to be trained in CPR,” she said.

Still, Blake sees this bill as a step in the right direction. “Stakeholders are eager to return to the Capitol in coming sessions with an even more robust bill, including CPR and defibrillator requirements and funding,” she said.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Schools struggle with lead in water while awaiting federal relief

2023-03-01T12:00:00+00:00

PHILIPSBURG, Mont. — On a recent day in this 19th-century mining town turned tourist hot spot, students made their way into the Granite High School lobby and past a new filtered water bottle fill station.

Water samples taken from the drinking fountain the station replaced had a lead concentration of 10 parts per billion — twice Montana’s legal limit for schools of 5 parts per billion for the toxic metal.

Thomas Gates, the principal and superintendent of the small Philipsburg School District, worries the new faucets, sinks, and filters the district installed for roughly 30 water sources are temporary fixes. The high school, built in 1912, is likely laced with aged pipes and other infrastructure, like so much of this historic town.

“If we change faucets or whatever, lead is still getting pushed in,” Gates said.

The school in Philipsburg is one of hundreds in Montana grappling with how to remove lead from their water after state officials mandated schools test for it. So far, 74% of schools that submitted samples found at least one faucet or drinking fountain with high lead levels. Many of those schools are still trying to trace the source of the problem and find the money for long-term fixes.

In his Feb. 7 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said the infrastructure bill he championed in 2021 will help fund the replacement of lead pipes that serve “400,000 schools and child care centers, so every child in America can drink clean water.”

However, as of mid-February, states were still waiting to hear how much infrastructure money they’ll receive, and when. And schools are trying to figure out how to respond to toxic levels of lead now. The federal government hasn’t required schools and child care centers to test for lead, though it has awarded grants to states for voluntary testing.

During the past decade, nationwide unease has been stirred by news of unsafe drinking water in places like Flint, Michigan. Politicians have promised to increase checks in schools where kids — who are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning — drink water daily. Lead poisoning slows children’s development, causing learning, speech, and behavioral challenges. The metal can cause organ and nervous system damage.

A new report by advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center showed that most states fall short in providing oversight for lead in schools. And the testing that has happened to this point shows widespread contamination from rural towns to major cities.

At least 19 states require schools to test for lead in drinking water. A 2022 law in Colorado requires child care providers and schools that serve any kids from preschool through fifth grade to test their drinking water by May 31 and, if needed, make repairs. Meanwhile, California leaders, who mandated lead testing in schools in 2017, are considering requiring districts to install filters on water sources with high levels of lead.

As states boost scrutiny, schools are left with complicated and expensive fixes.

As it passed the infrastructure bill, Congress set aside $15 billion to replace lead pipes, and $200 million for lead testing and remediation in schools.

Thomas Gates, principal and superintendent of Philipsburg Public Schools in Montana, stands outside a building in which half the faucets revealed high enough levels of lead that the district had to repair or turn off the fixtures.

White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan didn’t provide the source of the 400,000 figure Biden cited as the number of schools and child care centers slated for pipe replacement. Several clean-water advocacy organizations didn’t know where the number came from, either.

Part of the issue is that no one knows how many lead pipes are funneling drinking water into schools.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates between 6 million and 10 million lead service lines are in use nationwide. Those are the small pipes that connect water mains to plumbing systems in buildings. Other organizations say there could be as many as 13 million.

But the problem goes beyond those pipes, said John Rumpler, senior director for the Clean Water for America Campaign at Environment America.

Typically lead pipes connected to public water systems are too small to serve larger schools. Water contamination in those buildings is more likely to come from old faucets, fountains, and internal plumbing.

“Lead is contaminating schools’ drinking water” when there aren’t lead pipes connecting to a municipal water source, Rumpler said. Because of their complex plumbing systems, schools have “more places along the way where lead can be in contact with water.”

Montana has collected more data on lead-contaminated school water than most other states. But gaps remain. Of the state’s 591 schools, 149 haven’t submitted samples to the state, despite an initial 2021 deadline.

Jon Ebelt, spokesperson with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the state made its deadline flexible due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is working with schools that need to finish testing.

Greg Montgomery, who runs Montana’s lead monitoring program, said sometimes testing stalled when school districts ran into staff turnover. Some smaller districts have one custodian to make sure testing happens. Larger districts may have maintenance teams for the work, but also have a lot more ground to cover.

Outside Burley McWilliams’ Missoula County Public Schools office, about 75 miles northwest of Philipsburg, sit dozens of water samples in small plastic bottles for a second round of lead testing. Director of operations and maintenance for the district of roughly 10,000 students, McWilliams said lead has become a weekly topic of discussion with his schools’ principals, who have heard concerns from parents and employees.

Several of the district’s schools had drinking fountains and classroom sinks blocked off with bags taped over faucets, signs of the work left to do.

The district spent an estimated $30,000 on initial fixes for key water sources by replacing parts like faucets and sinks. The school received federal COVID money to buy water bottle stations to replace some old infrastructure. But if the new parts don’t fix the problem, the district will likely need to replace pipes — which isn’t in the budget.

The state initially set aside $40,000 for schools’ lead mitigation, which McWilliams said translated to about $1,000 for his district.

“That’s the one frustration that I had with this process: There’s no additional funding for it,” McWilliams said. He hopes state or federal dollars come through soon. He expects the latest round of testing to be done in March.

Montgomery said Feb. 14 that he expects to hear “any day now” what federal funding the state will receive to help reimburse schools for lead mitigation.

Back in Philipsburg, Chris Cornelius, the schools’ head custodian, has a handwritten list on his desk of all the water sources with high lead levels. The sink in the corner of his office has a new sign saying in bold letters that “the water is not safe to drink.”

According to state data, half the 55 faucets in the high school building had lead concentrations high enough to need to be fixed, replaced, or shut off.

Cornelius worked to fix problem spots: new sinks in the gym locker rooms, new faucets and inlet pipes on every fixture that tested high, water bottle fill stations with built-in filtration systems like the one in the school’s lobby.

Samples from many fixtures tested safe. But some got worse, meaning in parts of the building, the source of the problem goes deeper.

Cornelius was preparing to test a third time. He plans to run the water 12 to 14 hours before the test and remove faucet filters that seem to catch grime coming from below. He hopes that will lessen the concentration enough to pass the state’s thresholds.

The EPA recommends collecting water samples for testing at least eight hours after the fixtures were last used, which “maximizes the likelihood that the highest concentrations of lead will be found.”

If the water sources’ lead concentrations come back high again, Cornelius doesn’t know what else to do.

“I have exhausted possibilities at this point,” Cornelius said. “My last step is to put up more signs or shut it off.”

KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan contributed to this report.

Denver, Douglas County, Academy 20 join districts offering free school meals next year

2023-02-22T22:09:22+00:00

Leer en español.

Most Colorado school districts, including the state’s 10 largest, plan to offer free meals to all students next year through a new state program approved by voters last November.

Three large districts — Denver, Douglas County, and Academy 20 — that were undecided in early December have since reported to Chalkbeat that they’ll participate in the program, called Healthy School Meals For All.

The new program, funded with a tax on high earners, will make Colorado one of only a handful of states to offer free school meals to all students, a move advocates say will feed more hungry kids and take away the stigma currently associated with receiving free school meals.

California and Maine both launched permanent universal meal programs this school year and a few other states, including Nevada, Vermont, and Massachusetts, are offering such programs at least till the end of the current school year.

The growing push for free school meals comes after two school years where the federal government waived income eligibility requirements for subsidized meals, allowing schools nationwide to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students for much of the pandemic. Those waivers ended last summer.

While Colorado’s universal meals program is voluntary for school districts, most have reported they’ll opt in. A Chalkbeat survey of two dozen mostly large and medium districts found that 21 plan to participate, and one — Colorado Springs 11 — plans to offer free school meals next year through a different funding mechanism. Two districts, Mesa County Valley 51, based in Grand Junction, and District 49, based in Peyton, remain undecided.

Another recent survey of the state’s 178 school districts by the Colorado School Nutrition Association found that about 130 of around 140 responding districts plan to offer free meals next year.

“Truly, there’s about 10 that have said they were unsure out of all of those,” said Erika Edwards, the association’s public policy and legislative chair. “I do think we are very much moving closer to the vast majority saying yes.”

In November, Colorado voters easily approved Proposition FF, a new tax measure that will raise more than $100 million a year to pay for free school meals by reducing income tax deductions available to households earning $300,000 or more.

To participate in the universal free meals program, Colorado school districts will have to maximize the amount of federal meal dollars they get by applying for a program called Community Eligibility Provision. The national program helps cover the cost of universal free meals at schools with large proportions of students whose families receive certain government benefits such as food assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Families at those schools don’t have to fill out applications for free or reduced-price meals.

But even Colorado schools that don’t qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision program will be able to offer free meals to all students by tapping into proceeds from Proposition FF. Families at those schools will still have to fill out applications for subsidized meals.

Edwards said school districts that are undecided about offering free meals next year tend to fall into one of two categories. Smaller rural districts have questions about the logistics of the Community Eligibility program while larger metro districts have questions about how Colorado plans to dole out extra funding for schools with large populations of students from low-income households, she said.

Known as at-risk funding, the money has been distributed based on how many students fill out forms for federal subsidized meals. Colorado is moving toward other measures, but until the change is complete, districts are worried about losing money if fewer families fill out the forms once lunch is free for all students.

Edwards said the nutrition association supports the new program and plans to offer training and other assistance to help districts that want to participate.

“I think it’s the culmination of everything that a school food professional wants to see happen,” she said.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

National nonprofit, Newark synagogue to build new playground at Lincoln Elementary

2023-01-31T21:15:36+00:00

Students at Lincoln Elementary School will have a new place to run and play by the end of the year thanks to a new initiative to expand access to green spaces and recreational areas in Newark.

Most of the city’s public schoolyards are covered in asphalt and organizations such as the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land and Newark’s Congregation Ahavas Sholom are partnering with Newark Public Schools to redesign outdoor playgrounds.

Last week, the Newark Board of Education approved a partnership with Trust for Public Land and Ahavas Sholom to design and build a new playground at Lincoln School at no cost to the district.

The roughly $2 million project is funded through the Green Acres Grant Program and the Local Recreation Improvement Grant.

“A park at Lincoln Elementary provides an opportunity for the school and community to benefit from outdoor learning and living spaces,” said Nancy Deering, acting communications director for Newark Public Schools.

Of the 90,000 public schoolyards across the country, less than 1% are green and open to the public after school and on weekends according to data from Trust for Public Land. Concrete and asphalt yards contribute to urban heat islands with their effects most prominent during the warmer months. Newark is one of the nation’s worst heat islands.

Lincoln School, located in the city’s Vailsburg neighborhood in the West Ward, was built in 1916 and expanded during the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration projects instituted by President Franklin Roosevelt. Currently, the schoolyard is covered in asphalt with little play equipment.

In Newark, 94% of the population lives within a 10-minute walk of a park, according to Trust for Public Land’s 2022 ParkScore Index, but for the remaining 17,321 people without access to a nearby park, Trust for Public Land is prioritizing the redevelopment of playgrounds in schools such as Lincoln and other outdoor spaces to reduce the gap.

“We believe every student, faculty member, and resident of Newark should have a community schoolyard that supports the social, emotional, and academic development of Newark’s children,” said Scott Dvorak, Trust for Public Land’s New Jersey state director. “We intend to continue our work until we have achieved that goal.”

Construction is set to begin over the summer and fall of this year pending permit approvals and the construction bidding process, according to Dvorak. Once completed, nearly 500 students and school staff, as well as the area’s more than 8,000 residents, will have access to the schoolyard by the end of this year.

According to the agreement between Trust for Public Land and Newark Public Schools, the nonprofit will work with school administrators, teachers, students, the local community, and other stakeholders to design the playground.

In 2015, Trust for Public Land and Ahavas Sholom, helped renovate the Sussex Avenue School schoolyard, which was also covered in asphalt and had one basketball hoop. Students at the school helped design the new space and all grades voted on what they wanted. The new half-acre schoolyard was designed to include a turf field, running track, and a drinking fountain on the playground for the first time. The yard also includes a seating area, fashioned from large granite blocks, that functions as an outdoor classroom.

Historically, communities of color and low-income neighborhoods have less access to green spaces. Previously, Trust for Public Land has helped transform 13 parks and schoolyards in Newark’s highest-need neighborhoods including Newark Riverfront Park, Jesse Allen Park, and Lafayette Street School as well as 200 schoolyards nationwide.

They receive financial support from national and state agencies and other nonprofits.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Tennessee schools need $9 billion of infrastructure investment, report says

2023-01-27T20:28:04+00:00

Tennessee needs to invest more than $9 billion in its K-12 education infrastructure over five years, an increase of nearly 9% from an assessment done a year earlier, a new state report says.

Of that amount, about $5.4 billion is needed for renovations and technology improvements, while nearly $3.6 billion is needed to build additions and new schools, according to the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

The report, approved Thursday by the commission, comes as local and state officials grapple with how to cover the soaring costs of school construction, which have doubled in the last decade due to rising material and labor costs.

Meanwhile, years of research shows that fixing school buildings can improve student learning, health, and behavior. One study in Tennessee shows a direct connection between student achievement and the condition of school buildings. Another study from New York found that poor building conditions can lead to higher rates of chronic absenteeism.

In Tennessee, cities and counties pay for most of their school facility needs with property and sales tax revenues. But some state lawmakers are looking for ways to ease that burden.

Last year, one legislative proposal would have directed tax revenues from Tennessee’s new sports betting industry toward local school facility costs. But the measure fizzled in committee as legislators opted to keep most of that money — at least for now — for higher education scholarships, such as the state’s popular HOPE and Tennessee Promise programs.

This year, new legislation to eliminate state mandates on class sizes — if approved — could slow the need for new schools and additions.

But many local officials would prefer a new state revenue stream to help them repair or replace aging schools.

Miska Clay Bibbs, a former school board member in Memphis who was elected last year to the Shelby County Commission, said a broader conversation is overdue. At least 33 Memphis schools were built before 1950.

“Not only is Memphis-Shelby County Schools the state’s largest school district, but most of our school buildings are some of the oldest,” said Clay Bibbs. “These buildings don’t mirror the greatness of the students, teachers and families that these schools represent.

“It makes for a difficult learning environment,” she said.

A new building to replace Trezevant High School was put on hold last year due to limited funding. The school has one of the highest deferred maintenance bills of any public school in Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Tennessee needs 70 more schools

The inventory compiled by the state commission, which reports directly to the legislature, serves as a yearly reminder of Tennessee’s billions of dollars in unmet capital construction needs — from schoolhouses and roads to bridges and water lines. The report has been compiled every year since 1998 and has become an important tool to identify critical needs and set state priorities in the budget-making process.

The latest needs list tallied $63 billion in all, with education ranking second again, behind transportation and just ahead of health and safety infrastructure needs such as clean water, law enforcement, fire protection, and public health.

In the education category, college campuses saw a decrease in their infrastructure needs after several years of new investments, while K-12 public schools saw their needs increase.

To keep on track, local officials reported needing to build 70 more schools across Tennessee, at an average estimated cost of $42 million each. That amount can vary widely, however, depending on the school’s size, location, and purpose. For instance, Sullivan County’s new high school cost $75 million, while a new K-8 school in Lincoln County came in at $17 million.

Rep. David Hawk, a Republican from Greeneville, said his local school district is staring at a $50 million price tag to build a new middle school in Upper East Tennessee. He added that something has got to give.

“Brick and mortar for education is one of the largest costs to local governments, which go into substantial debt to build schools to meet state mandates,” said Hawk.

For much of his 20-year legislative career, Hawk has looked for a way to direct state funds to build schools, and he sponsored last year’s failed bill to use sports betting revenue for that purpose. He doesn’t plan to file a similar bill this year but says he wants to continue to “push the envelope.”

“We can and should do more,” Hawk said.

Sen. Jon Lundberg says infrastructure challenges aren’t the impetus for his bill this year to eliminate Tennessee’s maximum class size requirements of 25 students in kindergarten through third grades, 30 students in grades 4-6, and 35 students in grades 7-12.

“My goal is not to create larger class sizes; it’s just to give localities more discretion when there are extenuating circumstances, such as when a classroom has teacher aides,” Lundberg said. “The state would still put out best practices on optimum class sizes.”

But the Bristol Republican, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, acknowledged that such a change could also have the unintended effect of lessening pressure on local governments to build new schools or additions as their student populations grow.

“It’s possible,” he said. “My expectation is that locally elected leaders will do what’s right.”

Memphis has a long list of building needs

Last August, the collapse of a school library ceiling at one school — when school was in session — underscored the importance of addressing longstanding capital needs in Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

No students were in the library at the time at Cummings K-8 Optional School, but the school librarian and two other staff members were injured. All students will finish out this school year at a neighboring school pending repairs and the outcome of a structural review.

According to the state’s latest breakdown of local needs, Memphis-Shelby County Schools needs to address school infrastructure projects totaling more than $464 million, at a cost of $3,450 per student, by mid-2026.

But funding is a challenge. Last summer, Shelby County commissioners granted only half of the Memphis district’s $55 million request for capital improvements, putting several major projects on hold, including a replacement building for Trezevant High School in the city’s Frayser community.

Interim Superintendent Toni Williams is compiling a new capital improvement plan to bring before the commission this year. But Clay Bibbs, who chairs the Shelby County Commission’s education committee, says relief from the state could expedite improvements.

“Imagine if we had more dollars to take on more projects. Change could happen faster,” she said.

Tennessee received over $4 billion from three federal COVID relief packages, but Gov. Bill Lee and GOP leaders encouraged school districts to use at least half of their portions on programs and resources to help their students catch up academically from the pandemic.

Districts spent much of the early funds on technology upgrades like digital tablets. Some used part of their later funds to upgrade ventilation, heating, and air conditioning systems in school buildings. However, much of that spending was not captured in the latest state report, which gives a snapshot of infrastructure needs as of July 2021.

“We might see a drop in some of those areas next year,” said Tyler Carpenter, the commission’s research manager and the report’s co-author.

The governor has said he’ll prioritize Tennessee’s transportation infrastructure backlog this year. He is expected to unveil his proposed state budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year on Feb. 6.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Early childhood education programs fight food insecurity in Philadelphia and beyond

2022-12-07T11:20:00+00:00

This story is featured in Chalkbeat’s 2022 Philadelphia Early Childhood Education Guide on efforts to improve outcomes for the city’s youngest learners. To keep up with early childhood education and Philadelphia’s public schools, sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.

When teachers at Children’s Playhouse, a pair of child care centers in South Philadelphia, noticed children sneaking school-provided snacks into their book bags to take home, it was a “huge red flag,” said founder and CEO Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez.

This practice typically happened near the end of the day, leading staffers to believe the children weren’t getting enough for dinner, or eating early enough, to keep them satisfied.

So the center asked families if they’d prefer their kids have an afternoon “supper” rather than a snack, and the answer was yes.

Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez, Children’s Playhouse CEO, said teachers were alarmed to find children sneaking snacks to take home from the center.

“Some families work long hours,” and between commuting and other responsibilities, children might not be fed until 8 p.m. or later, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. Other families, she added, just don’t have the resources to buy enough food.

The type of situation that unfolded at Children’s Playhouse is part of a broader pattern in the city, according to recent data about food insecurity, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Although the pandemic has drawn significant attention to the issue, it’s far from a new one.

Approximately 31% of Philadelphia’s children experienced food insecurity in 2020, up from just over 24% a year earlier, according to Philabundance, which operates food banks in the area as a member of the Feeding America program.

And almost half of principals in a 2020-2021 School District of Philadelphia survey said food insecurity was a “great” or “moderate” challenge. Black and Hispanic/Latino households had higher rates of food insecurity, as did families whose children were still learning English, the district found.

This level of food insecurity can have dire consequences for early learners, who need stability at home and in school settings to thrive.

Anna Johnson, an associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University who studies the link between food insecurity and the well-being of young children, said the issue can be linked to other stressors some face in early childhood.

“Children from low-income communities are more likely to experience food insecurity, housing instability, and neighborhood violence,” Johnson said. “It’s really a systemic problem. It’s hard for them to get the resources all kids need for a happy, healthy life.”

In food-insecure households, parents generally make sure the children are fed and go hungry themselves, she added. But such choices end up disrupting and straining parent-child relationships.

“Food insecurity impacts parents’ abilities to be those buffers to the stresses their children experience, which then comes out in what we’re calling child mental health,” Johnson said.

One tangible consequence of that increased stress is that anxious kids aren’t able to concentrate in educational settings, said Seth Pollak, a clinical psychologist with the Child Emotion Research Lab at the University of Wisconsin.

“There’s really good evidence that when children are feeling anxious, it’s really hard for them to listen to the teacher’s instructions or pay attention to the cues their peers are sending,” Pollak said.

By the same token, alleviating child hunger can go a long way toward setting kids up for success, researchers say. And some providers are searching for solutions.

Children’s Playhouse provides meals to 278 students through its various programs.

Pennsylvania programs aim to ease hunger

Children’s Playhouse works across different sectors in Philadelphia by providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner to some 278 children in Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and infant and toddler programs at its two centers. The center also has a social worker on staff to direct families to additional resources.

Children’s Playhouse also partners with Philadelphia to provide Head Start and city-sponsored preschool programs, and works with food bank operator Philabundance to provide meals to the community, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. She’s also started a nonprofit to expand food availability to the community.

Food insecurity isn’t confined to major urban areas. In rural Pennsylvania, the Power Packs Project provides families in 45 schools with ingredients and recipes for low-cost fresh meals.

The 17-year-old project works with schools in the cities of Lancaster and Lebanon to find families who qualify for free and reduced-price meals through school, and enroll them in the program. These families receive packs with a mixture of fresh and shelf-stable groceries and a recipe card.

The recipe is for a meal to feed four people, but the food in the box each week generally provides staples and ingredients for about 10 meals, said Brad Peterson, the project’s executive director.

“It’s all about reducing that meal gap,” Peterson said. “Our mission is to supply kids with food over the weekend so when they go back to school Monday, they’re well fed and ready to learn.”

With the help of Johnson and her Georgetown colleagues, Power Packs — which is looking to expand — has recently started looking into data like changes in test scores to measure the program’s impact, Peterson said. “We’ve really been more focused on short-term outcomes,” he said.

Children’s Playhouse hasn’t measured the success of its food program, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. “We’re working so fast we didn’t stop to collect data,” she said.

Demand for food programs is growing, and recent inflation is a “huge concern” for families, many of whom were struggling to begin with, Alvarado-Rodriguez said. And more broadly, COVID’s disruption of food and other benefits programs hurt families at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder the most, Johsnon noted.

Children’s Village is working with state and local representatives to expand its food services, Alvarado-Rodriguez said.

“We have received testimonials throughout the pandemic,” and teachers have reported that the program has helped kids in their classrooms, she said.

Children’s Playhouse is looking to expand its food services, as the demand for programs that fight food insecurity grows.

Peterson attributed increased demand for Power Packs to the effects of inflation, but also to the elimination of federal benefits stemming from the pandemic. “We knew there was going to be a wave” of demand this year, he said. “A lot of the feeding programs that popped up during the pandemic have slowly gone away.”

One major change to longstanding nutrition policy during the pandemic was that schools provided free lunches to all students regardless of their household income levels during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. But those federally subsidized universal free meals ended this academic year.

On the other hand, Pennsylvania recently raised the income eligibility threshold for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to 200% of the federal poverty level, making more than 174,000 households eligible for the program. The expansion, which went into effect Oct. 1, “allows us to extend a reprieve to people who may be struggling” to pay for food, Executive Deputy Secretary for Human Services Andrew Barnes said in a September statement.

Philadelphia is also working to fill the gaps. In addition to providing regular meals in school and in after-school programs, the Philadelphia district works with Philabundance and the Giant Food-funded Share Food program to link schools with other resources, a district spokeswoman said.

Aside from such partnerships and official programs, teachers can also play a role on a smaller scale to alleviate children’s stress that’s related to food insecurity, said Pollak of the University of Wisconsin.

“Sometimes if a teacher can find some kind of quiet or stable thing to do” with a child who might be experiencing food insecurity or another form of instability at home, he said, it can make a significant difference. That could mean regularly pulling the child aside during lunch or recess and reading a story or having a snack, or even a group activity for a few children, Pollak said.

He hopes that the events of the last few years drive more research into (and attention to) food insecurity and the consequences it can have for young children. But for now, Alvarado-Rodriguez is driven not just by the need she sees, but by a moral imperative.

“It is disturbing that in parts of Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, we still have families with children that are going hungry at night and they can’t afford to feed them,” Alvarado-Rodriguez said. “That is something that is unacceptable.”

Schools see falling student participation in federal free meals program, new survey shows

2022-12-06T11:00:00+00:00

A new national survey suggests that many schools and families are struggling with this year’s changes to the federal school lunch program.

For two years, school lunches were free for all students at U.S. public schools under a pandemic-era provision that waived income eligibility requirements. But now, months into the first school year since the expiration of those rules, the share of schools with more than half of students using the program has dropped from 84% to 69%, according to survey data released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Across the nearly 1,000 public schools surveyed in October, more than a third said convincing parents to submit free and reduced-price meal applications was a challenge, making it the most common concern. Others cited staffing shortages and increased costs among issues facing their meal programs, according to the survey.

“For two years, there were no charges, there were no letters — none of that was happening,” said Shani Hall, who oversees student nutrition services for schools in Hillsborough County in Florida. Every week, her office sends about 3,000 text messages to parents, urging them to apply for free and reduced-price meals, she said.

“There’s a lot of confusion among parents. They just don’t understand: If they were free before, why are they not free now?” she said.

Districts across the nation are struggling to communicate the change to parents, said Diane Pratt-Heavner of the School Nutrition Association. She noted families of young children may have never seen the application form before, while other families who have come to rely on the meals might now find themselves ineligible.

Language barriers, outdated contact information, unresponsive families, and general confusion can stifle outreach efforts, too.

“The free and reduced-price meal application form was always a barrier for getting eligible kids the meals that they really rely on,” Pratt-Heavner said, noting questions about Social Security numbers have long raised concerns for some immigrant families.

Overall, about 27% of schools said administering the program was more difficult this year than last year, while 22% said it was easier and half reported it was the same.

The survey also suggests fewer public schools are taking part in the federal program. Last March, 94% of public schools reported participating in the federal program — a rate not far from the 96% participation rate in the 2017-18 school year, said Rachel Hansen, the project director for the NCES survey. But by October, that had fallen to 88%.

Hansen called that a “significant drop” and said NCES researchers were still working to understand what had caused the decline. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the federal meals program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and official participation rates for the school lunch program aren’t yet available for this year.

Pratt-Heavner, though, cautioned against drawing conclusions from the survey data on school participation — noting some affluent schools might opt out of the federal program if few students were eligible, but that those cases were unlikely to disrupt participation rates nationwide.

“That number does fluctuate a little bit from year to year based on school consolidation and other things like that,” she said. “But it would surprise me if a large percentage of schools dropped out of the program.”

Despite the challenges, free meals remain widely available at many schools. Hall said the majority of schools in her district qualified under the community eligibility provision — meaning the school can offer free meals to all students without collecting household applications because a high percentage of students are eligible based on participation in other programs, like SNAP.

But for students at the other 56 schools in her district, the situation is tougher, as families reeling from the economic hardships of the pandemic and rising costs face additional expenses at school.

Hall said the school district is still looking to donors to help families pay off lunch debt.

“Coming up with either the money to pay for a school meal or to pack a lunch is just so much harder right now,” she said.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering national issues. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Free meals will be offered in most Colorado school districts next year. Is yours one of them?

2022-12-02T23:59:02+00:00

Leer en español.

Update: Since this story was published in early December, many more districts have said they’ll participate in Healthy School Meals for All. Find an updated list here.

Many Colorado school districts, including Jeffco, Cherry Creek, Aurora, and Adams 12, plan to offer free school meals to all students starting in the fall of 2023 through a new state program funded with a voter-approved tax measure affecting high earners.

Of two dozen districts surveyed by Chalkbeat, 16 plan to offer universal free meals next year. But some districts remain undecided, including two of Colorado’s largest districts — Denver and Douglas County.

Brehan Riley, director of school nutrition at the Colorado Department of Education, said of school district officials, “There seems to be a lot of interest, but people are still unsure. They want to understand it a little bit better.”

Called Healthy School Meals for All, the program is meant to ensure students are getting the nutritional fuel they need to learn and eliminate the stigma that sometimes comes with the current income-based method for doling out free meals.

The initiative comes on the heels of two school years where the federal government waived income eligibility requirements for federally subsidized meals, allowing schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students. The waivers expired this fall, but lawmakers and advocates found a way to bring back the free meals for next year by asking Colorado voters to approve new funding through Proposition FF.

Voters said yes.

The measure will generate more than $100 million a year by reducing income tax deductions available to households earning $300,000 or more.

Many district officials are enthusiastic about the prospect of feeding more students as they did during the first two years of the pandemic. When school meals were free under the waivers, Boulder Valley officials saw a 40% increase in students eating school meals, District 27J saw a 20-30% increase, and Aurora saw a 7-10% increase.

Beth Wallace, Jeffco’s executive director of food and nutrition services, said her district saw a 30% increase in students eating school meals during the pandemic.

“We reach those families that just need that extra help.” she said. “They may not qualify for free and reduced [meals], but they’re working families that struggle to make all the ends meet.”

She’s had parents tell her they only allow their children to eat school meals twice a week when favorite foods are offered because they can’t afford to pay for the meals every day.

“I’m just so excited to reach those families,” she said.

Wallace also said even though there’s not supposed to be any way for students to tell who gets free school meals under the current system, some students pick up on clues. When her own son was younger, she encouraged him to eat breakfast at school, but he refused, saying “Mom, I’m not eating breakfast. That’s for the free kids.”

Some advocates say the stigma affects parents, too.

“In small communities, you know people working at the school and you may not want to say, ‘We need this help,’ ” said Ashley Wheeland, director of public policy for the nonprofit Hunger Free Colorado.

To participate in the universal free meals program, Colorado school districts will have to maximize the amount of federal meal dollars they get by applying for a program called Community Eligibility Provision. The national program helps cover the cost of universal free meals at schools with large proportions of students whose families receive certain types of government benefits such as food assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Families at those schools don’t have to fill out applications for free or reduced price meals.

Currently, 107 Colorado schools in 26 districts offer universal free meals through the Community Eligibility Provision, according to the state education department. In districts like Harrison and Pueblo 60, which participate districtwide, little will change next year. The districts will continue to offer free meals to all students.

But even Colorado schools that don’t qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision program will be able to offer free meals to all students next year because they’ll be able to tap into proceeds from Proposition FF. Families will still have to fill out applications for free and reduced price meals.

Some district officials say they worry about confusion for families who have to fill out a meal application for one child but not for a sibling who attends a school eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision.

“You can see how a parent would be like, ‘I don’t get it,’” Riley said.

The idea, she said, is that both schools are maximizing the federal dollars they’re bringing in for meals, but they’re using two different mechanisms to do it.

Besides trepidation about bureaucratic details, some school food service leaders say they’re worried about staff shortages, supply chain disruptions, and the need for new equipment to accommodate increased meal demand.

Wallace, in Jeffco, said having enough food storage space and cooking capacity is always a concern, but she’s confident the district can make it work because they managed during the pandemic when more students were eating school meals.

She said that with greater meal volume, districts can get better food prices. That can mean a fruit choice like strawberries for more weeks in the school year even if prices rise a bit.

Riley said under the universal meals program, districts will also be able to jettison the administrative hassle of trying to collect unpaid meal debt — charges incurred when students eat school meals but aren’t eligible for free meals and don’t have money to pay for them. Since the pandemic waivers expired, she said she’s heard from school nutrition leaders that meal debt is rising again.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey students protest policing in schools, call for more counselors, teachers

2022-11-10T23:14:31+00:00

Newark and Elizabeth Public School students used their day off on Thursday to demand fewer police and more mental health resources and teachers in schools.

Make the Road New Jersey youth leaders gathered dozens of teens in Elizabeth to call for more resources for students in public schools and greater transparency in school policies.

As they marched down Broad Street in Elizabeth and made their way to Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy to continue their rally, the students chanted: “Police in schools have got to go!”

Breoghan Conchas Marquez, a senior at East Side High School in Newark, said “there are a lot of issues affecting Black and brown students” in cities like Newark and Elizabeth but mental health resources should be at the forefront in these communities.

“There is a discrepancy between the security guard amount and counselor amount,” said Conchas Marquez at the march. “There is not really, like, a good way for all students to get mental health support in Newark or anywhere else for that matter.”

Across the country, federal and state leaders have highlighted the urgent need for mental health support among young people following the pandemic. In July, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy introduced his National Governors Association Chair Initiative, which focuses on strengthening youth mental health. The initiative has garnered support from other state governors searching for bipartisan solutions.

In New Jersey, Black and Latinx students have less access to school mental health staff today than they did a decade ago, according to a study from the New Jersey Policy Perspective. In Newark and Elizabeth, where the majority of students identify as Black and Latinx, the inequity is forefront as teens and their families have a higher chance of living in poverty and may have experienced the disproportionate effects of the pandemic.

Dozens of teens marched in Elizabeth, New Jersey to protest policing in schools and demand more counselors and resources to help students of color.

Students at Thursday’s march said they not only rallied for mental health issues but are also pressing state and local leaders to provide clean drinking water at schools, eliminate uniforms, provide access to clean bathrooms, and have cell phone privileges during the day among other issues affecting public school teens in the area.

Giovana Castaneda is a senior at Rutgers and organized the march alongside her youth team at Make the Road New Jersey. For her, the discrepancies in public schools are the same as when she went to high school four years ago. Currently, her team launched the “Counselors Not Cops” campaign to bring awareness to the amount of police presence in New Jersey in comparison to counselors or other school-based resources.

“We started seeing an increase of law enforcement presence in schools and referrals to law enforcement. The Counselors not Cops campaign started because we saw there was an overpolicing of Black and brown students happening,” Castaneda said.

Currently, her team focuses on community-based actions in Elizabeth but she said “the issues are similar in Newark” when it comes to students of color.

“When I go to their schools, their schools look like prisons. Some don’t have AC, some don’t have quality lunch or quality water,” Castaneda added. “It’s up to community members to create community access programs when it shouldn’t be like that. We should be using city budgets and school budgets to be creating these resources for students, the community shouldn’t be doing it.”

Joe Johnson, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey attended Thursday’s march and said state leaders need to do more to help students in cities like Newark and Elizabeth who deal with violence in their communities and the aftermath of the pandemic.

“Students have issues they are dealing with and they want to be able to speak to a professional about them whether it’s something happening in schools, in the community or at home,” Johnson said. “Most students don’t have access to a mental health professional.”

Additionally, state leaders should stay away from “quick” solutions or increased policing after events like the Uvalde, Texas school shooting or violence in the community, Johnson added. The goal is “listen to what students want,” he said.

“What we really see is that whenever something happens there’s a very quick visceral reaction: ‘We need to have more police, more cameras, more metal detectors,’” Johnson said. “What ends up happening is that most of these things go into Black and brown school districts, pretty much without fail.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Election results: Colorado voters favor Proposition FF, free school meals

2022-11-09T17:44:26+00:00

Colorado voters on Tuesday passed a measure that will help school districts offer free school meals for all students.

Unofficial election results show Proposition FF ahead by a wide margin.

Proposition FF will help pay for school meals by limiting state tax deductions for those making more than $300,000 per year — meaning those taxpayers would pay more in taxes. That revenue would be available to school districts that choose to offer free school meals for all students.

Advocates Tuesday night said they were hopeful and not surprised.

“We believe in Colorado voters, we know they understand that our kids need food when they’re trying to learn,” said Ashley Wheeland, policy director for Hunger Free Colorado, a member of the Healthy School Meals for All coalition.

Currently, districts get federal reimbursement for school lunches provided to students from low-income families. The federal threshold to qualify for free or reduced-price meals varies by family size. This year, a family of four would need to make less than $51,338 annually to qualify for subsidized meals.

Educators and advocates believe that because the cost of living in Colorado is higher than in many other states, many families who make more than that amount still struggle to afford healthy meals.

Proposition FF would require districts to apply for what’s known as the Community Eligibility Provision program to get the federal government to cover the cost of more meals. Rather than asking individual families to fill out applications for free- or reduced-price lunch, the district would use Medicaid and other data to demonstrate student need. The state money generated by Proposition FF would cover any cost not covered by federal dollars.

Advocates believe most school districts would participate.

According to a state fiscal analysis, the tax measure is expected to bring in $100.7 million in the budget year 2023-24, and increasing amounts each year after.

The measure passes with a majority of the vote.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

NYC will convert 100 fuel-burning public schools to all-electric energy by 2030

2022-10-28T20:55:11+00:00

New York City will commit billions of dollars to convert 100 fuel-burning public school buildings to cleaner energy by 2030 as part of an effort to comply with emissions reductions mandated by city law, Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday.

The city will spend roughly $4 billion over the next seven years on a plan that includes retrofitting 100 school buildings so they no longer burn fossil fuels for heating. That shift will help bring the city closer to compliance with Local Law 97, which sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions that buildings must adhere to starting in 2024.

Adams also announced that every new school building, including those already under construction, will be fully electric, putting the city slightly ahead of schedule on a separate 2021 city law that effectively bans gas in new construction starting in 2024. Newly constructed public school buildings must be fossil fuel-free beginning in 2025 under that law.

“Every New York City school we build going forward will be fully electric,” Adams said Friday at a press conference in P.S. 5 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which will be the first to get retrofitted under the new plan. “No more boilers, no more burning dirty fuel, no more contributing to asthma.”

The 100 existing schools that will get their boilers removed and heating systems revamped are all located in neighborhoods with high levels of asthma, Adams said. Pollutants released in the burning of heating fuels can contribute to health conditions including asthma, which disproportionately affect Black and Latino children in New York City.

“I was just downstairs in the basement,” Adams told the elementary schoolers assembled at Friday’s announcement. “The boiler is loud, it burns fossil fuel, which causes a bad environment. We’re going to replace that system.”

The city’s aging public school buildings, which still largely rely on oil and gas for heating, are a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, spewing out the equivalent of 154,000 cars’ worth of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

The sweeping city law passed in 2019 requires large city buildings – both public and private – to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to cut overall building emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

City officials said the plan rolled out on Friday will go a long way toward meeting that goal, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 120,000 tons a year - the equivalent of taking 26,000 cars off the roads.

The city Department of Education already reduced emissions by 14% across more than 800 buildings between 2014 and 2019, according to a recent report from the Center for an Urban Future.

The city’s new initiative, dubbed “Leading the Charge,” will also include a $540 million effort to install more efficient LED lighting across 800 schools, and will help halt the use of No. 4 oil - a particularly polluting variety - by 2026, according to city officials. No. 4 oil is supposed to be phased out of most buildings by 2030 under city law, and legislators were recently considering a bill that would move up the deadline to 2025.

The clean energy initiatives will cost an estimated $4 billion by 2030. The city has already “committed” $2 billion and will have to “identify the remaining funds in the coming years,” officials said. It was unclear if any of the funding comes from federal COVID relief stimulus money.

Clean energy advocates have pointed out that while the upfront costs are high, retrofitting can also help save money in the long run by cutting fuel costs. The city didn’t immediately provide an estimate of how much money the initiative will save.

Robert Troeller, president of Local 891 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents custodian engineers, said he hadn’t yet heard about the specifics of the new plan, but that “it’s certainly a good general direction for the city and state.”

Troeller added his one concern was for any “people who lose jobs because of this.”

City officials said the initiative will create new jobs for “union electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, and machinists,” who will help shift schools away from No. 4 oil, but didn’t provide an estimate of how many new jobs.

The education department is also looking into expanding career and technical education offerings to train students interested in working on building and maintaining the new all-electric systems.

Samanatha Maldonado, from THE CITY, contributed. This story is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and THE CITY.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Newark board approves $5 million contract to purchase, install touchless water fountains

2022-10-28T20:49:10+00:00

Newark school board members have approved a nearly $5 million contract to purchase and install touchless water fountains across all district schools. At least half of water fountains have been inoperable in some buildings since the start of the school year, prompting students to carry jugs from home or go to teachers lounges in search of water.

The two-year contract was approved by district leaders during last night’s board of education meeting and comes after district plumbers tested water fountains across Newark schools and found some inoperable due to leaks from old ring filters and dry rotting, said board member Flohisha Johnson during the meeting.

“Water dispensers, coolers, and cups have been placed at locations where fountains require extensive repairs,” Johnson said, while giving an operations committee report during Thursday’s meeting. “Contactless water fountains continue to be installed districtwide.”

Last school year, Newark Public Schools said it kept all water fountains shut off as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus when students returned to in-person learning. But Chalkbeat Newark found that the district shut off water fountains in the 2021-2022 academic year due to a delay in testing water sources for lead and getting water filters replaced. In March, Superintendent Roger León promised touchless water fountains would be installed by the time school started this fall but district officials on Thursday said the installations are ongoing.

The district’s school business administrator Valerie Wilson and district spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to questions about the number of touchless water fountains purchased and installed so far this year.

The contract approved by board members allows Ringwood-based company, Peter Hywel Plumbing & Heating, to supply and install touchless water fountains across the district. The $4,497,000 contract begins on Oct. 27 and ends on Oct. 26, 2024.

As of mid-August, the district had completed testing for lead at 57 schools, and planned to test 12 remaining schools before the start of the school year, meeting minutes show.

In September, Wilson said that more than 3,000 drinking water fountains had been tested for lead and back in use in September. But during the first month of school, some students said they still didn’t have access to functioning water fountains. Parents say they send their children to school with bottles of water for the day.

“I send my child with a big gallon to lug around with her so she can have water,” said Nadirah Brown, mom of a student at Harriet Tubman Elementary School. “There’s no bottled water provided nor water fountains for our children to drink from.”

At Newark Vocational, water fountains on the upper floors of the building were still turned off with missing filters as of Thursday, while fountains on the main level of the building were functioning properly, said an employee at the school who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

The school keeps water bottles in administrative offices for students, they said, but it causes disruptions during class time when a student needs to go in search of a water bottle.

“The school has been good about providing water bottles this school year, but having a water fountain in the hallway is very different than having to go wait on somebody or interrupt someone’s meeting so they can hand you a couple of bottles of water,” the source said.

But the lack of functioning water fountains isn’t an issue across the district.

Water fountains were turned back on in the spring at New Jersey Regional Day, a district school for students with severe disabilities, and new contactless fountains can be seen throughout the building, said a staff member at the school who asked to remain anonymous. The school, which has an enrollment under 200, provided students with refillable water bottles over the summer, the staff member said.

At Science Park High School, only about half of the water fountains are functional, according to a source at the school who asked to remain anonymous. And those that are turned on have low water pressure where water “tends to trickle out,” the source said.

The lack of easily accessible water can at times be dire at the school.

A teacher started to sell bottles of water from her classroom due to the water fountains being unreliable, the Science Park source said. There is also a vending machine that has water bottles for sale, but not all students can afford to pay for water, they said.

Recently, when a student visited one of the teachers’ lounges saying she had a headache and needed a drink of water, the teachers provided her with a cup of water from their water cooler, the source said. The lounges are usually equipped with water coolers but the jugs for the coolers aren’t always replaced immediately, they added.

“The fact that some kids are still buying water is definitely problematic and it’s something they shouldn’t have to do,” the source said. “It sort of becomes this situation where people have to scrounge around to look for water.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

¿Los distritos de Colorado deben ofrecer comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes? La propuesta FF permitirá que los electores decidan

2022-10-20T19:24:49+00:00

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Durante los dos últimos años, los distritos escolares pudieron ofrecer comidas gratuitas a todos los estudiantes porque el gobierno federal eliminó los requisitos de ingresos. Alrededor de un 20% más de niños de Colorado (aproximadamente 68,000 en todo el estado) estaban comiendo en las escuelas.

Sin embargo, los requisitos de ingresos volvieron a activarse este otoño, y los distritos están nuevamente requiriendo que las familias llenen formularios para determinar si los estudiantes califican para recibir comidas gratuitas o a precio reducido. La cantidad de niños que comen en la escuela ya está disminuyendo, dicen las autoridades.

Ahora, una medida incluida en la papeleta del 8 de noviembre permitirá que los electores de Colorado decidan si se deben reinstituir las comidas escolares para todos los estudiantes.

Según la Propuesta FF, los contribuyentes que ganan más de 300,000 dólares pagarían más impuestos para que los distritos escolares pudieran optar por servir comidas gratis a todos los estudiantes. Los distritos tendrían que participar primero en algunos programas federales para obtener la mayor cantidad posible de dólares federales, pero luego el estado cubriría todos los costos que los programas federales no paguen.

“Los niños tenían comidas más nutritivas en las escuelas, no tenían que pasar hambre. Ya hemos visto lo que hace”, dijo Ashley Wheeland, directora de política pública de la organización sin fines de lucro Hunger Free Colorado. “Todo el mundo sabe que los niños necesitan comida para aprender”.

El programa de almuerzos escolares determina la elegibilidad utilizando los límites federales de pobreza, que no cambian dependiendo del estado. En Colorado, donde el costo de vida es elevado, los defensores de la Propuesta FF creen que hay niños que no califican para recibir comidas subvencionadas, pero cuyas familias siguen teniendo dificultades para poder comprar comida nutritiva.

Los inquilinos de Colorado están agobiados por los costos (30% o más de sus ingresos se usan en costos de vivienda) por tener la octava tasa más alta del país, según un estudio publicado por el Denver Post.

Según las directrices federales, este año una familia de cuatro personas tiene que ganar menos de $51,338 para calificar para las comidas subvencionadas. Una familia de cuatro personas en Colorado necesita $73,132 para cubrir sus necesidades básicas, según la calculadora del salario digno del Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Si se aprueba, la Propuesta FF funcionaría como un programa de grants para los distritos escolares que decidan participar. Estos distritos tendrían que primero usar los programas federales para asegurarse de recibir la mayor cantidad de dólares federales, y luego el estado completaría la diferencia.

Si todos los distritos participan, se espera que la medida cueste alrededor de $100 millones al año una vez que esté completamente operacional, y un poco más en el primer año. La propuesta se financiaría limitando el número de deducciones de impuestos estatales de los contribuyentes que ganan más de $300,00; es decir, que estas personas pagarán más impuestos estatales. Según un análisis fiscal del estado se espera que esta medida fiscal genere $100.7 millones al presupuesto del 2023-24, y cantidades mayores cada año subsiguiente.

Cómo funcionaría

Colorado ya paga por el costo adicional de las comidas para los estudiantes elegibles para comer a precio reducido, lo cual significa que estas comidas son gratuitas para las familias.

Este año, los legisladores propusieron una ley estatal para expandir eso de manera que el presupuesto estatal cubriera el costo de todos los estudiantes que no son elegibles para comidas subvencionadas, pero la propuesta no fue aprobada. A los legisladores que se opusieron al proyecto de ley les preocupaba el costo, y se preguntaron si sería mejor usar ese dinero en otra cosa.

Al menos otros dos estados, California y Maine, han aprobado leyes para crear comidas escolares gratuitas para todos los estudiantes. Otros están llevando a cabo programas piloto, o han aumentado los niveles de elegibilidad (algo que tradicionalmente los estados no han ajustado) para que más estudiantes califiquen.

Colorado ya solicitó permiso para utilizar el Medicaid como criterio para que los estudiantes califiquen directamente, incluso si sus familias no llenan los formularios requeridos para almorzar gratis. Los operadores de los comedores escolares creen que si los distritos escolares pueden utilizar los datos de Medicaid para calificar a los estudiantes, menos niños quedarán fuera de la lista.

La medida también requiere que los distritos elegibles soliciten y operen el programa Community Elegibility Provision. Ese programa permite que los distritos dejen de pedir que las familias llenen un formulario de elegibilidad para el almuerzo gratuito, y les da más fondos federales a los distritos. A cambio, cada distrito se compromete a proporcionarle comidas gratuitas a cualquier estudiante.

Dependiendo del porcentaje de estudiantes elegibles, los fondos federales podrían ser suficientes para cubrir todo el programa, pero no necesariamente en todos los casos. Con la Propuesta FF, cuando esos fondos no sean suficientes, los fondos estatales cubrirían la diferencia.

En otros casos, si todo un distrito no puede calificar para el programa, pero un subconjunto de escuelas sí califica, entonces el distrito tendría que operar algunas escuelas con el programa y otras sin él.

Erika Edwards, directora de política pública y legislación de la Colorado School Nutrition Association, dijo que a su asociación le preocupa un poco los desafíos para los distritos, pero que todavía ha firmado para apoyar la propuesta.

“Supongo que la propuesta no tendrá sentido para algunos distritos, pero esa cifra es probablemente pequeña”, dijo Edwards.

Otro posible reto, dijo Edwards, es que cuando las comidas son gratuitas para todos los estudiantes, entonces más de ellos comerán y esto requerirá que los distritos tengan la capacidad para hacer más comida. Con la escasez de personal, eso puede ser difícil.

La propuesta también procura resolver algunos de esos problemas, pero eso no ocurriría en el primer año.

Los grants para permitir que las comidas escolares sean gratis comenzarían en el año escolar 2023-24. En 2024-25, el estado también proporcionaría dinero extra a través de grants para que los distritos puedan comprar ingredientes locales de Colorado para las comidas, ayudar a proporcionar estipendios al personal de los comedores, y recibir capacitación, equipos o asistencia de una organización sin fines de lucro para preparar comidas escolares nutritivas.

Un distrito ya está encontrando su propio camino

Los defensores de la medida ya han recaudado más de $1.5 millones para ayudar a que sea aprobada. Ninguna oposición organizada está recaudando dinero. Aun así, algunas personas han planteado objeciones sobre la propuesta, y esto incluye destacar que aumenta los impuestos de unos 113,988 contribuyentes, es decir, menos del 5% de los contribuyentes del estado, y que el dinero también podría pagar los almuerzos de algunos niños cuyas familias tienen la capacidad para costearla.

Aun así, los defensores tienen la esperanza de que, si se aprueba, la medida permitirá que más niños coman una buena comida en la escuela. Eso, a su vez, ayudaría a los estudiantes a estar mejor preparados para aprender.

“Quiero que todos nuestros estudiantes coman en la escuela”, dijo Danielle Bock, directora de nutrición escolar en el Distrito 6 de Greeley-Evans. “No hay una comida mejor en el día de un niño”

En el Distrito 6, dijo Bock, los líderes empezaron a buscar una manera de mantener las comidas escolares gratuitas para todos antes de que comenzara el año escolar, cuando parecía claro que el gobierno federal iba a eliminar las exenciones.

Bock calculó que su programa necesitaba $2 millones para continuar con los almuerzos gratuitos de este año, y la junta escolar aprobó por unanimidad la asignación de ese dinero.

Aun así, el distrito, como otros, ha presionado este año a las familias para que llenen los formularios de elegibilidad. Bock dijo que el distrito ha recogido más formularios “que nunca en la historia”. Solamente unas 2,000 de las 23,000 familias no han llenado el formulario este año, dijo. Usualmente, unas 8,000 familias no llenan los formularios.

Esa es una de las razones por las que sabe que las familias necesitan la ayuda.

Para el próximo año, aunque la propuesta no se apruebe en las elecciones, Bock espera poder seguir ofreciendo comidas escolares gratuitas. Si el estado recibe permiso para calificar directamente a los estudiantes que reciben beneficios de Medicaid, ella espera que cambien los porcentajes del distrito lo suficiente como para que el uso del programa de Community Elegibility Provision pueda cubrir todos los costos de las comidas gratuitas.

De ser así, la medida podría no ser útil para su distrito. De todos modos, ella ayudó a trabajar en ella al principio porque cree que ayudará a otros.

“Sé que hay distritos en Colorado que sí se beneficiarían”, dijo Bock. “Para mí se trata de cambiar la percepción de lo que son las comidas escolares, y tratar de cambiar a una sociedad que vea las comidas escolares como una parte regular del día escolar que no requiere una solicitud separada”.

Ella y otros defensores de la propuesta dicen que uno de los grandes beneficios de las comidas escolares gratuitas universales es que elimina el estigma de la pobreza asociado con comer en la escuela.

Wheeland, de Hunger Free Colorado, dice que el estigma también contribuye a que aproximadamente un 40% de los estudiantes que califican para almuerzos gratuitos o a precio reducido no coman en la escuela.

Bock desea que comer en la escuela sea tan normal como leer en la biblioteca escolar.

“Si ves a un estudiante leyendo en la biblioteca, no dices: ‘oh, ese pobre niño no tiene libros en casa’”, dijo Bock.

Yesenia Robles es una reportera de Chalkbeat Colorado que cubre los distritos escolares K-12 y la educación multilingüe. Para comunicarte con Yesenia, envíale un mensaje a yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

States opting out of a federal program that tracks teen behavior as youth mental health worsens

2022-10-20T10:00:00+00:00

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened a mental health crisis among America’s young people, a small group of states quietly withdrew from the nation’s largest public effort to track concerning behaviors in high school students.

Colorado, Florida, and Idaho will not participate in a key part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior surveys that reach more than 80,000 students. Over the past 30 years, the state-level surveys, conducted anonymously during each odd-numbered year, have helped elucidate the mental health stressors and safety risks for high school students.

Each state has its own rationale for opting out, but their withdrawal — when suicides and feelings of hopelessness are up — has caught the attention of school psychologists and federal and state health officials.

Some questions on the state-level surveys — which can also ask students about their sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual activity, and drug use — clash with laws that have been passed in conservative states. The intense political attention on teachers and school curriculums has led to a reluctance among educators to have students participate in what were once considered routine mental and behavioral health assessments, some experts worry.

The reduction in the number of states that participate in the state-level CDC survey will make it harder for those states to track the conditions and behaviors that signal poor mental health, like depression, drug and alcohol misuse, and suicidal ideation, experts said.

“Having that kind of data allows us to say ‘do this, not that’ in really important ways,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, which oversees the series of health surveys known as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. “For any state to lose the ability to have that data and use that data to understand what’s happening with young people in their state is an enormous loss.”

The CDC developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System in 1990 to track the leading causes of death and injury among young people. It is made up of a nationally representative poll of students in grades nine through 12 and separate state and local school district-level questionnaires. The questions focus on behaviors that lead to unintentional injuries, violence, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, drug and alcohol misuse, physical inactivity, and more.

The decisions by Colorado, Florida, and Idaho not to participate in the state-level questionnaires will not affect the CDC’s national survey or the local school district surveys in the states that have them.

Part of what makes the survey a powerful tool is the diversity of information collected, said Norín Dollard, a senior analyst with the Florida Policy Institute, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. “It allows for the analysis of data by subgroups, including LGBTQ+ youth, so that the needs of these students, who are at a greater risk of depression, suicide, and substance abuse than their peers, are understood and can be supported by schools and community providers,” said Dollard, who is also director of Florida Kids Count, part of a national network of nonprofit programs focused on children in the United States.

The CDC is still processing the 2021 data and has not released the results because of pandemic-related delays, said Paul Fulton, an agency spokesperson. But trends from the 2009 to 2019 national surveys showed that the mental health of young people had deteriorated over the previous decade.

“So we started planning,” Ethier said. “When the pandemic hit, we were able to say, ‘Here are the things you should be looking out for.’”

The pandemic has further exacerbated the mental health problems young people face, said Angela Mann, president of the Florida Association of School Psychologists.

Nearly half of parents who responded to a recent KFF/CNN mental health survey said the pandemic had had a negative impact on their child’s mental health. Most said they were worried that issues like self-harm and loneliness stemming from the pandemic may affect teenagers.

But the CDC’s survey has shortcomings, said health officials from some states that pulled back from it. Not all high schools are included, for example. And the sample of students from each state is so small that some state officials said their schools received little actionable data despite decades of participation.

That was the case in Colorado, which decided not to participate next year, said Emily Fine, school and youth survey manager at the Colorado health department. Instead, she said, the state will focus on improving a separate study called Healthy Kids Colorado, which includes questions similar to those in the CDC survey and Colorado-specific questions. The Colorado survey, which has been running for about a decade, covers about 100,000 students across the state — nearly 100 times the number that participated in the CDC’s state-level survey in 2019.

Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, which also have their own youth surveys, either never participated or decided to skip the previous two CDC assessments. At least seven states will not participate in the 2023 state-level survey.

Fine said the state-run option is more beneficial because schools receive their own results.

In Leadville, a Colorado mountain town, a youth coalition used results from the Healthy Kids Colorado survey to conclude that the county had higher-than-average rates of substance use. They also learned that Hispanic students in particular didn’t feel comfortable sharing serious problems like suicidal thoughts with adults, suggesting that opportunities to flag issues early were being missed.

“I feel like most kids tell the truth on those surveys, so I feel like it’s a reliable source,” said high schooler Daisey Monge, who is part of the youth coalition, which proposed a policy to train adults in the community to make better connections with young people.

Education officials in Florida and Idaho said they plan to gather more state-specific data using newly created questionnaires. But neither state has designed a new survey, and what questions will be asked or what data will be captured is not clear.

Cassandra Palelis, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education, said in an email that Florida intends to assemble a “workgroup” to design its new system.

In recent years, Idaho officials cited the CDC survey data when they applied for and received $11 million in grants for a new youth suicide prevention program called the Idaho Lives Project. The data showed the share of high school students who had seriously considered attempting suicide increased from 15% in 2011 to 22% in 2019.

“That is concerning,” said Eric Studebaker, director of student engagement and safety coordination for the Idaho State Department of Education. Still, he said, the state is worried about taking up class time to survey students and about overstepping boundaries by asking questions that are not parent-approved.

Whatever the rationale, youth mental health advocates call opting out shortsighted and potentially harmful as the exodus erodes the national data collection. The pandemic exacerbated mental health stress for all high school students, especially those who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups and those who identify as LGBTQ.

But since April, at least a dozen states have proposed bills that mirror Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which bans instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

The law, which critics call “Don’t Say Gay,” and the intense political attention it has focused on teachers and school curriculums are having a chilling effect on all age groups, said youth advocates like Mann, the Florida school psychologist. “Some of these discussions about schools indoctrinating kids has bled into discussions about mental health services in schools,” she said.

Since the law was adopted, some Florida school administrators have removed “safe space” stickers with the rainbow flag indicating support for LGBTQ students. Some teachers have resigned in protest of the law, while others have expressed confusion about what they’re allowed to discuss in the classroom.

With data showing that students need more mental health services, opting out of the state-level surveys now may do more harm than good, said Franci Crepeau-Hobson, a professor of school psychology at the University of Colorado-Denver, who has used the national youth risk behavior data to analyze trends.

“It’s going to make it more difficult to really get a handle on what’s happening nationally,” she said.

KHN Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell contributed to this report.

Chicago high school honored as one of the ‘World’s Best’ for mental health work

2022-10-19T22:57:06+00:00

Before the sun came up Wednesday in Chicago, cheers filled a multipurpose room at Curie Metropolitan High School as news broke:

Curie had been named one of the “World’s Best Schools.”

The Southwest Side high school is among five schools — and the only school in North America — awarded a $50,000 World’s Best School Prize by T4 Education, a global organization based in London. Curie, which was recognized for supporting students’ mental health, will use the money to fix up the school’s aging theater.

After the live announcement streamed on YouTube, students, staff, and administrators jumped around and embraced one another as confetti billowed around the room — celebrating a moment of victory for a school grappling with pandemic disruptions and the impact of gun violence that left one student dead earlier this year.

“We put a lot of work into supporting our students,” said Principal Homero Peñuelas. “To be recognized on a world stage for the work that we do, it’s a great feeling.”

The award is a testament to the work faculty, staff, and administrators are doing to provide students with mental health supports, wraparound services, and art enrichment programs, he said.

Along with a behavioral health team, the school has a dedicated arts program to tap into the talents and ambitions of its students, offering a number of classes including dance, drama, animation, orchestra, choir, electronic music, art, sculpture, and guerrilla art.

Students say Curie’s arts programs have played a pivotal role in their lives.

“Whenever you dance you forget everything around you,” Ruby Ayala said. “You just want to dance.”

The school’s robust arts programming and its focus on supporting students impressed the panel of 200 judges, said Salman Shaheen, T4 director of communications.

Curie’s mental health support coupled with its arts programs is transforming lives, he said.

Founded two years ago, T4 Education is focused on connecting teachers from across the world to improve education globally and share best practices.

The World’s Best School Prize, a partnership with American Express and Accenture, set out to find schools that made tangible impacts on the lives of its students and the wider community, Shaheen said. This is the first time the prizes are being awarded. An application for the 2023 awards will be released next month.

Other winners include Dunoon Grammar School in Scotland, Escuela Emilia Lascar in Chile, Project Shelter Wakadogo in Uganda, and Bonuan Buquig National High School in the Philippines.

Curie, the neighborhood high school on Chicago’s South West side, serves nearly 3,000 students, most Black or Latino. In July, Curie student Tierra Franklin was shot and killed. The 17-year-old’s family said she was looking forward to graduating this year and had dreams of becoming a lawyer.

The grant funds will help the nearly 50-year-old school modernize the auditorium and allow the students’ “creativity to be on display,” Peñuelas said. “They get a great place to shine.”

The Curie auditorium is overdue for some upgrades.

During musical productions last year, seniors Ayala and Joey DeLeon recalled the sound booth failing, curtains breaking, and lights going out.

Despite the mishaps, being onstage was a “beautiful moment,” DeLeon said.

Curie dance teacher Melinda Wilson applied for the grant to support students’ emotional and mental health growth through art programs.

Fighting back tears, Wilson said her life was dedicated to giving students healthy lives and supporting them on their journey. She recalled the moment she learned the school had gotten the award:

“I went to the moon and back,” Wilson said. “I never expected it to happen, but it means everything to me. Today is one of the finest days of my life.”

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Should Colorado districts provide free meals for all students? Proposition FF will let voters decide.

2022-10-19T16:03:54+00:00

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For the past two years, school districts were able to provide free meals for all students after the federal government waived income eligibility requirements, About 20% more Colorado children – roughly 68,000 statewide – were eating meals at schools.

But those pandemic waivers expired this fall, and districts once again are requiring families to fill out forms to determine if their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The number of kids eating at school is already dropping, officials say.

Now, a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot will allow Colorado voters to decide whether to bring back school meals for all students.

Under Proposition FF, taxpayers making more than $300,0000 would pay more taxes so that school districts could opt in to serve meals for free to all students. Districts would have to participate in some federal programs first to get as many federal dollars as possible, but the state would cover all costs the federal programs don’t.

“Kids had better nutritious meals in schools, they didn’t have to resort to going hungry. We already saw what it does,” said Ashley Wheeland, director of public policy for the nonprofit Hunger Free Colorado. “Everyone knows kids need food to learn.”

The school lunch program determines eligibility by using federal poverty guidelines that aren’t adjusted depending on the state. In Colorado, where the cost of living is high, proponents of Proposition FF believe there are children who don’t qualify for subsidized meals, but whose families still struggle to pay for healthy food.

Colorado renters are cost-burdened — spending 30% or more of their income on housing costs — at the eighth highest rate in the country, according to one study reported by the Denver Post.

This year, a family of four must be making under $51,338 to qualify for subsidized meals under federal guidelines. A family of four in Colorado needs $73,132 to meet basic needs, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator.

Danielle Bock, director of school nutrition in Greeley-Evans District 6, said that she’s talked to families who earn just above the limit and still need help. Sometimes they calculate that if they were to subtract the amount they have to spend on full-price lunches every day for their kids from their income, they would qualify for the subsidized meals.

Unfortunately, what families spend is not a part of the calculation, Bock said.

If approved, Proposition FF would operate as a grant program for school districts that choose to participate. They would have to opt in to federal programs to ensure they’re getting as many federal dollars as possible first, and the state would make up the difference.

If all districts participate, the measure is expected to cost around $100 million per year once it’s fully operational, and a little more in the first year. It would be paid for by limiting how many state tax deductions taxpayers who make more than $300,000 can claim, essentially taxing them more. According to a state fiscal analysis, the tax measure is expected to bring in $100.7 million in the budget year 2023-24, and increasing amounts each year after.

How it would work

Colorado already picks up the extra cost of meals for students who qualify for reduced-price meals, making them free to families.

This year, legislators proposed a state law to expand that so the state budget would cover the cost for all students not eligible for subsidized meals, but the proposal didn’t pass. Legislators who opposed the bill were concerned about the cost, and wondered if the money wasn’t better spent elsewhere.

At least two other states, California and Maine, have passed legislation to create free school meals for all students. A few others are running pilot programs or have raised the eligibility levels so more students would qualify, something that traditionally states have not adjusted.

Colorado has already applied for permission to use Medicaid as a way to directly qualify students who receive that benefit, even if their families don’t fill out the required free lunch forms. School lunch operators believe that if school districts are able to use Medicaid data to qualify students, fewer children will fall through the cracks.

The measure also requires eligible districts to apply for and operate the Community Eligibility Provision program. That program allows a district to stop asking families to fill out a free lunch eligibility form, and gives districts more federal money. In exchange, the district commits to providing free meals to any student.

Depending on the percentage of eligible students, the federal money may be enough to cover the whole program, but not necessarily in all cases. Under Proposition FF, when it’s not enough, the state money would cover the difference.

In other cases, an entire district might not qualify for the program, but a subset of schools would, and the district would have to operate some schools with the program and some without.

Erika Edwards, the public policy and legislation chair for the Colorado School Nutrition Association, said her association had some concerns about the challenges for districts, but still has signed on to support the proposition.

“I would assume there are some districts it’s not going to make sense for, but that number is probably small,” Edwards said.

Another possible challenge, Edwards said, is that when meals are free for all students, more eat the meals, requiring districts to have the capacity to make more food. With staff shortages, that can be difficult.

The proposition also looks to address some of those problems, but that would not happen in the first year.

The grants to allow free school meals would begin in the 2023-24 school year. In 2024-25, the state would also provide extra money through grants to allow districts to purchase local Colorado food for meals, help provide stipends for lunch employees, and receive training, equipment, or assistance from a nonprofit to prepare healthy school meals.

One district is already finding its own way

Advocates for the measure have already raised more than $1.5 million dollars to help pass the measure. No organized opposition is raising money. Still some people have raised objections about the proposition, including noting that it raises taxes for about 113,988 taxpayers, or less than 5% of the state’s estimated taxpayers, and that the money may also pay for the lunches of some children whose families can afford food.

Bock worries that if the ballot measure were to fail, it might discourage legislators from attempting another fix.

Still, advocates are hopeful that if passed, the measure will allow more children to eat a good meal at school. That, in turn, would help students be better prepared to learn.

“I want all of our students to eat at school,” Bock said. “There isn’t a healthier meal in a child’s day.”

In Greeley’s District 6, Bock said, leaders started looking for a way to keep school meals free for all before the school year started, when it seemed clear the federal government was going to eliminate waivers.

Bock estimated that her program needed $2 million to continue free lunches for this year, and the school board unanimously approved the allocation of that money.

Still, this year, the district, like others, has pushed families to fill out eligibility forms. Bock said the district has collected more forms “than ever in history.” Only about 2,000 out of 23,000 families have not filled out a form this year, she said. Usually around 8,000 families skip the forms.

That is one other reason she said she knows families need the help.

For next year, even if the ballot measure doesn’t pass, Bock is hoping to be able to continue offering free school meals. If the state receives permission to directly qualify students who receive Medicaid benefits, she expects it should change the district’s percentages enough so that using the Community Eligibility Provision program may cover all the costs of free meals.

If so, the measure might not be helpful to her district. Still, she helped work on it earlier on, because she believes it will help others.

“I know there are districts in Colorado that it would benefit,” Bock said. “For me it’s about changing the perception of what school meals are and trying to move us to a society that sees school meals as a regular part of the school day that doesn’t require an application.”

She and other advocates say one of the big benefits of universal free school meals is that it removes the stigma of poverty associated with eating a school meal.

Wheeland from Hunger Free Colorado says that stigma also contributes to about 40% of the students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches still not eating a lunch at school.

Bock wants eating a school meal to be as normal as students reading in a school library.

“You see a student in the library, reading a book, you don’t say, ‘oh that poor child has no books at home,’” Bock said.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students, teachers: Help us examine access to water in your school

2022-10-07T10:46:57+00:00

Newark Public Schools kept all water fountains shut off last school year, as a way to curb spreading the coronavirus when students returned to in-person learning.

Teachers, staff, and at times, the district, bought cases of water for classrooms, and students would bring water bottles from home or buy some from vending machines. Sometimes, the teachers and students said, they refilled bottles at bathroom sinks, the only source of water they could find in their school buildings.

District officials promised this school year would be different.

But one month in, some students say they still don’t have access to functioning water fountains. Parents say they send their children to school with bottles of water for the day.

At a school board meeting in March, Superintendent Roger León’s presentation included a slide that stated the district would “continue installation of contactless water fountains with a completion date by start of next school year.”

Five months later, at an August meeting, board member Josephine Garcia said the district hadn’t yet started installing the contactless water fountains.

“The district will begin the installation of contactless water fountains shortly,” Garcia said, reading from the minutes of an Aug. 17 operations committee meeting.

Those minutes also stated that “all school drinking sources will be turned on in time for school opening.”

State rules require school districts to ensure students have access to safe drinking water.

León said last year the district kept the water fountains off as a COVID-19 precautionary measure to prevent spread of the virus. However, state and federal guidelines did not mention turning off water fountains when schools resumed in-person learning.

Part of the reason the water fountains remained shut off, it turned out, was a delay in testing water sources for lead and getting water filters replaced, Chalkbeat Newark reported last year.

As of mid-August, the district had completed testing for lead at 57 schools, and planned to test 12 remaining schools before the start of the school year, meeting minutes show.

School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson said Sept. 27 that more than 3,000 drinking water outlets had been tested for lead and turned back on.

But, she added, “As we turned them on we found out that certain components of our plumbing system caused the fountains to fail or be inoperable,” she told the school board.

The district fixed those problems, retested the fountains, and put them back into service, she said.

“There are no schools with fountains inoperable at this point in time,” she said. “All schools have fountains on.”

However, that is not what students, parents and staff have told Chalkbeat.

As the school year gets underway, help us tell this story accurately and thoroughly by sharing what you’re experiencing in your schools when it comes to access to water by filling out the form below.

If you are having trouble viewing this form, please go here.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark, covering the city’s K-12 schools with a focus on English language learners. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

District says Newark high school of architecture, design will open next fall, despite state stop-work order

2022-09-20T20:44:30+00:00

When a new high school focusing on skilled trades, interior design, and architecture was introduced to the public last year, Superintendent Roger León called it an “unheard initiative” to provide students with unique internships and apprenticeships in the field.

At an invite-only ceremony in May, school and city officials, developers, and architects gathered at the future site of the new Newark High School of Architecture and Interior Design, as León and other leaders dipped shovels into a mound of dirt marking the formal beginning of construction.

But as the district continues to promote a fall 2023 opening for the school, confusion and drama have consumed the construction process.

At the former St. James Hospital location, home of the future high school, the facade of the building remains intact with rooms open to the air and visible to pedestrians on the sidewalk. At the fenced-off property, a trio of red stop-work order papers is taped to one of the back doors, a contrast to the district banners announcing the arrival of the new high school.

Over the last couple of months, the state launched an investigation into the developer of the property, workers filed state complaints over unfair wages, and the landlord of the property said the deal with the district was void resulting in the Department of Labor issuing the stop-work order on the property on the second day of the school year.

The district has not responded to questions from Chalkbeat about the project’s legal snags, but on the first day of Newark Public Schools, León appeared on Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka’s podcast, “Ras in 60,” making no mention of the state’s involvement in the process. Instead, he highlighted the importance of the project.

“One of the things that we will teach these students is the importance of this business, so the importance of being in a bargaining unit, the importance of protecting their health, their finances,” said León during the podcast. “All of that will be part of the strategy because we don’t want any of these students to ever be in a situation that compromises their health and safety.”

The School of Architecture and Interior Design is expected to open in September 2023 at the site of the former St. James Hospital in Newark’s East Ward.

New school would revitalize vacant building

The Newark High School of Architecture and Interior Design, district officials said, would bring life to the dilapidated St. James Hospital building that has stood vacant for years in the city’s East Ward. They envisioned a school that would help address the nation’s shortage of skilled trade workers while drawing students away from private and charter schools.

The new high school is set to focus on three trades – plumbing, electricity, and HVAC – and give students the opportunity to study architecture and interior design in a sleek and modern facility. The goal, according to officials, is to provide all students with an opportunity to learn skills and trades in an instructional program that will fast-track their technical careers and give them a high school diploma, license, and a contract if they want to work for the Newark Public School system.

The new high school would add to a string of new district schools, including two that launched during the 2020-2021 school year and three others that opened in fall 2021. The district also has revamped the vocational programs at its comprehensive high schools. Students who live in any part of the city will be able to apply to the new high school, León said.

Under the timeline given by the district, the school will welcome its first freshman class in September 2023 with 240 students, a change from its original plan to open with 260 ninth-graders this September.

The first freshman class will be broken up into two cohorts of 120 students split among 16 teachers, according to the district. Enrollment will increase to one grade level each year after that before capping off at 800 students in Sept. 2025. The school is projected to have its first graduating class in June 2026.

During a May 2021 public hearing on the project, Jason Ballard, the district’s former assistant school business administrator, said NPS would agree to a $160 million, 20-year lease with Urban Renewal LLC to turn 155 Jefferson Street into the Newark High School of Architecture & Interior Design. At the end of the 20-year lease, the district could renew or purchase the property. Ballard added that leasing is more affordable than building a new high school, which he said costs an average of $134 million, based on construction plans in other New Jersey cities.

The New Jersey Department of Labor issued a “stop-work order” to halt construction on the site of the former St. James Hospital and the proposed site for the new High School of Architecture and Interior Design in Newark’s East Ward.

Construction stops after state order

But days after workers at the site saw district engineers scoping the location in August, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued stop-work orders to the general contractor, Townhouse Builders Inc., subcontractor Dimension Contractors LLC, and developer of the property, Summit Assets. The department also cited the developer and subcontractor after finding they were not registered to perform public work in New Jersey, said Melanie Weiss, spokesperson for the Department of Labor.

“Our strongest enforcement tool is to stop work immediately on a public construction site when workplace violations are egregious and readily apparent,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “Performing public work is a privilege, not a right, and we will not tolerate abuses to workers or the law.”

Albert Nigri, is the developer of the property who heads Manhattan-based Summit Assets and is the managing member of its subsidiary Urban Renewal LLC. Before the state issued a stop-work order on the property, Nigri told NJ.com that the lease with the district was void, adding more uncertainty to the project.

David Johnson, director for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund (LEROF), the organizing arm of Laborers’ International Union of North America, said the complaint was filed by union organizers to the state’s Department of Labor after workers were not being paid prevailing wages as required by law, prompting the state’s stop-work order. The union has also brought concerns about safety at the work site.

“It’s a building trades school, architecture, and it’s a little ironic that you got workers getting exploited like that on a school that’s going to be designed to educate kids on how to do construction work correctly,” Johnson said. “It’s very, very ironic.”

According to Johnson, prior to filing the complaint, León and the district convened a meeting between the building trades, union laborers, and Nigri last May to discuss the wage issue. Johnson said nothing resulted from that meeting.

The Department of Labor “then showed up and put the stop-work orders,” Johnson said. “We can’t have that kind of exploitation happening on a project like that where it’s clearly covered by prevailing wages.”

The general contractor, subcontractor, and developer have filed appeals to the state and are awaiting their respective hearings, Weiss said.

In the meantime, construction on the property cannot resume until the developer pays workers the wages they are owed and all issues have been resolved with the state.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark approved for new schools as part of state project to address overcrowding

2022-09-12T19:18:48+00:00

As part of a larger project to address overcrowding in some of New Jersey’s poorest school districts, state officials approved two new schools in Newark, a district that’s dealt with rundown buildings for decades.

The Schools Development Authority (SDA) granted two new pre-K through eighth grade schools in Newark, along with 14 other projects across the state, according to a press release issued by the agency last Thursday. The project is part of the SDA’s 2022 Capital Plan, which includes 16 projects that will address overcrowding and infrastructure needs.

“The Board’s approval of these projects, identified in the SDA’s Statewide Strategic Plan as priority projects, will significantly reduce District-wide overcrowding and facility deficiencies that impact thousands of students statewide,” said SDA chairman Robert Nixon. “These projects will deliver thousands of new or replacement student seats in state-of-the-art facilities that will foster learning and student achievement.”

The average Newark school building was built more than 90 years ago, more than twice the national average, with many suffering from leaky roofs, outdated boilers, and dilapidated restrooms. Rundown buildings can dampen students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, impair their learning.

The projects slated for Newark will address capacity needs within the district, which serves more than 38,000 students. The new buildings will replace former schools but state and local officials have not released details on which schools they’ve identified for replacement. During this planning phase, the specifics of the projects, such as building size and anticipated costs, are yet to be determined, according to the SDA. Currently, the projects do not have a completion date.

“It is our job to ensure New Jersey’s young scholars have equitable access to outstanding school buildings that will allow them to learn, thrive, and succeed as they embark on a lifetime of learning,” said SDA CEO Manuel Da Silva. “The Administration’s investment toward the improvement of New Jersey’s educational infrastructure has allowed this Board to advance projects that will address critical needs in districts throughout New Jersey.”

The board’s approval authorizes funding to move forward with planning activities for the project. Planning activity funding cannot exceed $200,000 per project, unless approved by the board.

Newark Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

A mother walks her son across the intersection of Lafayette and Prospect in Newark on their way to school.

Newark Public Schools buildings have been crumbling for decades and state officials have been slow to address the needs. According to a historic court ruling, New Jersey must ensure that children in poor communities have access to well-funded schools in up-to-date buildings.

The state allocated nearly $2 billion to support the SDA’s 2022 Strategic Plan to advance more than a dozen school construction projects in SDA districts, and an additional $350 million for facilities projects in regular operating districts. Last year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced $75 million to districts statewide for capital maintenance and infrastructure projects, including roughly $6.5 million for Newark Public Schools.

Of the 16 projects approved by the SDA, three will address “serious facility deficiencies” in the cities of Camden and Salem. These new projects join three more that were approved by the SDA Board of Directors in April for a total of 19 projects approved in 2022.

In March, the state approved Newark Public Schools’ plan to build 10 new school buildings and undertake major repairs at more than 60 existing schools, according to a five-year capital plan. The plan also calls for some 275 renovation projects, including repairs to roofs and plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and fire alarm systems.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

MSCS officials rebut mayor’s comments linking attendance, enrollment declines to juvenile crime

2022-09-07T23:57:31+00:00

Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials hit back at Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s recent comments linking rising truancy and declining enrollment to juvenile crime.

In his weekly newsletter Friday, Strickland discussed “the challenges our community faces with the lack of punishment and intervention for juvenile offenders,” and shared enrollment and truancy data that he cited as evidence that parents and families have “allowed” thousands of teens to drop out of or skip school.

District data released in May shows nearly 30% of MSCS students were chronically absent from school last year, meaning they missed 10% of school days or more. It marks a jump of almost 10 percentage points over pre-pandemic years. And in January, district data showed enrollment shrank by nearly 4,000 students from the previous year.

Strickland also criticized MSCS for terminating its relationship with the district attorney’s office to enforce truancy laws and claimed the district stopped referring any cases to Juvenile Court.

“This is unacceptable. Parents must be held accountable for their children’s attendance at school, and I hope that the new superintendent will use all legal means to hold parents and children accountable,” Strickland wrote. “The large increase in juvenile crime is certainly directly impacted by more teens out of school without supervision, education, and career plans.”

But MSCS leaders on Wednesday characterized Strickland’s remarks as inaccurate and lacking context, saying enrollment decreases are occurring at large public school systems across the country due to the pandemic. And on a local level, MSCS officials said enrollment is down because families have more educational options to choose from as the district has expanded its charter, virtual, and special school offerings.

District officials also defended their approach to truancy, saying it follows state laws and best practices that focus on addressing the root causes of a student habitually missing class rather than on criminalizing students or parents by getting prosecutors or the Juvenile Court involved.

Shawn Page, chief of academic operations and school support for MSCS, said many district families struggle with food or housing insecurity if a parent loses their job or their family is evicted — traumatic events that occurred more often during the pandemic. As a result, students may miss more school than usual.

“If a student is truant, we try to figure out what barriers are causing the truancy, remove those, and support the family,” Page said. “When students do not respond and we have to go to that next level, we will. … Only then do we report something to Juvenile Court — when we’ve gone through the processes and steps.”

The district referred over 400 students to the court in 2021, Page said, and about a month into the current school year, the district has already made over 300 referrals.

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Some Colorado schools cancel class amid high heat forecast

2022-09-07T21:01:20+00:00

Record-breaking heat in Colorado this week has prompted public schools without air conditioning to close or announce plans to send students home early.

More than 30 Denver schools are calling “heat days,” according to a district press release. Most schools are releasing students early Wednesday and Thursday, but four schools are closing altogether for at least one day this week.

They include:

Godsman Elementary was closed Tuesday.

Columbine Elementary will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Knapp Elementary will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Next Steps at Barrett will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High will release students early Thursday.

George Washington High will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

KIPP Denver Collegiate High will release students early Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Manual High will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Montbello High will release students early Thursday.

South High will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Thomas Jefferson High will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

West High will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Lake Middle will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

McAuliffe International School will release students early Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Skinner Middle will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

West Middle will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Asbury Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Bradley International School will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Bryant Webster Dual Language School will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Carson Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Cory Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Cowell Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Denison Montessori will release students early Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Doull Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Ellis Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Goldrick Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Math and Science Leadership Academy will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

McMeen Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Park Hill Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Polaris Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Sabin World Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Stedman Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Steele Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Stephen Knight Center for Early Education will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Traylor Academy will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

University Park Elementary will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Whittier ECE-8 will release students early Wednesday and Thursday.

Other Colorado school districts have announced similar closures. All schools in the Poudre district, based in Fort Collins, and the Thompson district, based in Loveland, will release students two hours early on Wednesday and Thursday. Most Poudre schools don’t have air conditioning, the district said in a press release.

Forty-eight Denver campuses don’t have air conditioning. (See the list here.) Thirty-one of those are not scheduled to get it anytime soon. But 17 campuses are slated to get air conditioning later this fall or next school year with funding passed by Denver voters in 2020.

That funding was earmarked to add air conditioning at 24 Denver campuses. Work has been completed at seven campuses and is nearly complete at eight more. Supply chain issues have slowed the work at those eight campuses, district officials said. The district is scheduling work at the remaining nine campuses to start next summer.

Tuesday was the fourth day this September with temperatures above 95 degrees, breaking a record for the month, and Wednesday and Thursday could both see temperatures near 100 degrees, according to Denver meteorologists.

Denver has posted 62 days this year above 90 degrees, the third most on record.

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

These Denver schools still don’t have air conditioning

2022-08-24T12:00:00+00:00

Editor’s Note: This article was published on Aug. 24, 2022. For an updated list of Denver schools with and without air conditioning for the 2023-24 school year, read our most recent story.

School started in Denver on Monday, and with temperatures climbing into the high 80s this week, 48 campuses still don’t have air conditioning.

That’s fewer than the 55 campuses that didn’t have air conditioning in 2020, when Denver Public Schools asked voters to pass a $795 million bond for a slew of projects, including installing air conditioning at 24 schools. Voters overwhelmingly passed the bond.

Hot classrooms are a perennial problem in Denver, where some school buildings are a century old and temperatures in August can reach the high 90s. The district pushed back the first day of school this year by a week to try to mitigate the likelihood of overheated students.

Of the 24 schools slated to get air conditioning with funding from the 2020 bond, work has been completed at seven schools, said Heather Bock, the district’s director of construction.

Work is nearly completed at another eight campuses, Bock said: Manual High, Merrill Middle, McAuliffe International, Ashley Elementary, Columbine Elementary, Knapp Elementary, and two campuses, Rishel and Smedley, that are home to multiple schools, including KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, Math and Science Leadership Academy, Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School, and Denver Online High School.

That work at those campuses has been held up by supply chain issues but is scheduled to finish in late fall, Bock said.

Work to install air conditioning is set to start next summer at another nine schools, she said: Thomas Jefferson High, Denver Green School, Steele Elementary, Polaris Elementary, Cowell Elementary, Sabin World Elementary, Denison Montessori, Stedman Elementary, and Carson Elementary.

That will leave 31 schools without air conditioning or plans to install it. Those schools are:

North High School
Bryant-Webster Dual Language School
Denver Language School (two campuses)
Hamilton Middle School
Skinner Middle School
Slavens K-8 School
STRIVE Prep Sunnyside Middle School
Asbury Elementary School
Bradley International School
Brown International Academy
Cory Elementary School
Doull Elementary School
Edison Elementary School
Ellis Elementary School
Godsman Elementary School
Goldrick Elementary School
Gust Elementary School
Johnson Elementary School
Lincoln Elementary School
McMeen Elementary School
Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment
Next Steps at Barrett
Park Hill Elementary School
Steck Elementary School
Stephen Knight Center for Early Education
Teller Elementary School
Traylor Academy
University Park Elementary School
University Prep (two campuses)

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Kids are at low risk for monkeypox, but schools can take precautions, CDC says

2022-08-19T19:00:00+00:00

Children and teens are at low risk for contracting monkeypox, but schools can still take steps to prepare for possible exposures or cases, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

So far, a handful of the 14,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S. have been among kids under 18, a CDC official said. In other countries, monkeypox has been much less common among children than adults, too.

In a new fact sheet, the CDC says the risk of getting monkeypox at school or in an early childhood setting is low. There’s been only one known case to date — an Illinois day care worker who tested positive for monkeypox earlier this month. All of the potentially exposed children and adults got screened, and none had tested positive as of last week, the local health department said.

Many of the precautions the CDC suggests schools take will sound familiar after two and a half years of following COVID protocols. That includes routinely cleaning and disinfecting classrooms, asking students and staff to regularly wash their hands, and providing personal protective equipment to staff who care for sick students.

Here’s what else the CDC says K-12 schools, early education providers, and after-school programs can do:

Understand the symptoms of monkeypox and how it spreads

Adults and children can contract monkeypox if they have close, personal contact with an infected person. So far, most monkeypox cases have been associated with sexual contact, though it’s possible to spread the virus by touching contaminated objects or fabrics — such as toys, books, and blankets — or a surface the infected person has used.

The main monkeypox symptom to watch for is a rash that can appear on the genitals, as well as the hands, feet, chest, face, or mouth. The rash may look like pimples or blisters at first and then scab over. Other signs include fever, chills, muscle aches, and other flu-like symptoms.

But the CDC cautions that many illnesses can cause a rash and fever in children, including chickenpox, so kids who haven’t had a known exposure should be assessed by a doctor.

Know what to do in case of an exposure

Schools should follow the steps they normally would to avoid the spread of illness, the CDC says. If a school does have a case of monkeypox, staff should clean and disinfect the places the infected person spent time, as well as any items or surfaces they touched. Schools should wash any linens or towels the infected person used, and throw away any items that can’t be sanitized.

There’s no test for monkeypox right now, unless a person develops a rash after being exposed. Children and teens who are exposed should be monitored for symptoms for 21 days, the CDC advises.

During that period, parents and caregivers of kids who were exposed should take their temperature daily, check their skin for new rashes, and look in their mouth for any sores or ulcers. Schools should also be prepared to watch for symptoms so they can communicate with families. School officials should ask their local or state health departments for guidance on how best to do that.

In most cases, children and staff who were exposed to an infected person don’t have to be excluded from school. “It is important to avoid stigma and fear-based exclusion of children and adolescents,” the CDC says.

Generally, contact tracing will be possible, since the virus spreads through touch and schools will know which students and staff were in a particular classroom. But in cases where contact tracing isn’t possible and there was a high degree of exposure, a health department may limit a student’s participation in school or other activities.

“The health department will consider the age of the individual and their ability to recognize or communicate symptoms, the types of interactions in the environment, and the risk of more severe disease to others in the setting,” the CDC says.

Students or staff who develop symptoms while under monitoring should isolate at home.

Know how to handle symptoms at school

If a student shows signs of monkeypox at school, school staff should bring the student to a private space away from other kids, such as an office. If they’re at least 2 years old, the child should wear a well-fitting mask and a parent or caregiver should pick them up and have them checked by a doctor.

Staff who are monitoring the possibly infected student should avoid close contact, if possible, the CDC says, but still attend to the child in an age-appropriate way, such as changing their diapers or calming them down if they’re upset. The school staffer should wear a gown and gloves if close contact is needed, such as to hold the child.

If the child has a rash, staff should try not to touch it and cover it with clothing, if possible. The staffer should also wear a KN95 mask, or other well-fitting mask, and wash their hands.

Widespread vaccination isn’t recommended for children or school staff, the CDC says, but vaccines are available for people who’ve come into close contact with a person infected with monkeypox. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that the Jynneos vaccine can be recommended for children under 18 after they’ve been exposed to monkeypox.

Have questions? The CDC is hosting two webinars on Monday for early education providers from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Eastern, and for K-12 schools from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Kalyn Belsha is a national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado hopes cash infusion spurs electric school bus adoption

2022-08-12T16:44:27+00:00

No motor. No noise. No tailpipe. No exhaust.

Aurora Public Schools’ seven new electric school buses look like other yellow buses in the district’s 151-vehicle fleet, but they don’t drive like the other buses and don’t pollute like the other buses.

Environmental advocates and government officials hope a major infusion of state and federal money can jumpstart widespread fleet replacement that would have most Colorado students transported on cleaner, quieter buses within the decade.

But achieving that likely would require technological advances to extend the range of electric buses and enough demand to bring down upfront costs.

Last year’s federal infrastructure bill included $5 billion for the Clean School Bus program. The first round of school district applications are due Aug. 19. Rebates can go toward electric school buses and charging infrastructure, as well as buses that run on compressed natural gas or propane in rural communities that need longer range. Money will continue to be distributed over the next five years.

Schools that don’t make the cut can apply in a future round or apply for a grant through Colorado’s $65 million electric school bus program adopted this year. While the federal program gives higher priority to rural and tribal schools, the state program gives higher priority to high-poverty schools.

Republicans criticized the state program as typical of Democratic overspending on low-priority pet projects, but Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said money saved on fuel and maintenance will go back into classrooms.

Polis and EPA Region 8 Director KC Becker recently joined lawmakers, school officials, and activists at a demonstration of Aurora’s electric school buses to encourage school districts to apply for funding.

“We all have a right to clear air. The children, the drivers, everyone,” said Ean Tafoya, Colorado state director for Green Latinos, who noted that Latino communities are heavily affected by air pollution. “It’s important to advocate with our school districts for these programs.”

Sabrina Pacha, director of Healthy Air and Water Colorado, said she works with a pediatrician who knows she’ll see more children with respiratory issues in her clinic on days when Denver’s brown cloud appears more prominent on her commute.

“That’s what transportation pollution is doing to our kids,” Pacha said. “It’s exacerbating underlying health conditions, and it’s putting them at greater risk of developing asthma and other respiratory issues.”

Aurora purchased its buses this spring with a $2.2 million grant from the regional air quality council to replace diesel buses bought in 2009. The district plans to use the buses on its longest routes for maximum savings and add more as more funds become available.

Right now, electric school buses cost about twice as much as diesel buses, though they’re cheaper to operate on a daily basis.

“Schools have to replace buses at some point anyway, so this is a great program,” Becker said. “There’s an equity piece, there’s a cost savings piece, and there’s an environmental piece.”

The most immediate benefit will be felt in neighborhoods, when diesel buses aren’t idling in front of schools and on bus lots, she said.

Between the two funding sources, Polis said he hopes to see a fully electric school bus fleet within 10 to 12 years. It’s not clear how many buses might be purchased or what percentage of the current fleet might get replaced with existing funding streams.

Polis predicted that federal funding would transform the market for electric school buses and charging infrastructure. The state money is enough to help school districts buy a bus, while the federal money is enough to push manufacturers to step up production and bring costs down, he said.

Aurora Fleet Manager Omar Espinal said he plans to monitor metrics ranging from energy use to student behavior during the first 90 days the buses are on the road. He’s optimistic the quieter ride will encourage calmer behavior from students, in addition to the buses’ other benefits.

Aurora Public Schools Fleet Manager Omar Espinal plans to track the performance of the districts’ seven electric buses to measure cost savings and other benefits.

Some 350 miles away in Durango, Transportation Director Daniel Blythe generally agrees.

The district’s electric school bus, purchased last year in a partnership with the La Plata Electric Association, doubles as a battery that can feed back into the grid during times of high-demand.

It’s “freaky quiet,” Blythe said. “You can hear the tires on the concrete. You can hear anything that’s being said front to back.”

Blythe says he would recommend any district pursue the technology. The bus easily covers its daily route, even in winter when heaters draw more power from the battery, and it can charge in the middle of the day in between longer runs.

Blythe hopes to have four electric buses out of a fleet of 35, at least until the travel range improves. Trips to sporting events can reach 300 miles or more, so he still needs some diesel buses.

“We don’t like to push it to the limit because it would be a bad look to be on the side of the road,” he said.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Aurora students disembark from an electric school bus after a ride around the Edna and John W. Mosley P-8 campus.

When it comes to athletic trainers, most Chicago Public Schools athletes miss out

2022-08-12T16:11:06+00:00

This story was produced as part of the Medill Media Teens journalism program for Chicago Public School students at Northwestern University. The writer worked under the mentorship of Medill graduate DeMario Phipps-Smith.

Aristidis Adrahtas loves his job. As an athletic trainer, he plays a part in keeping young athletes healthy in one of the oldest sports conferences in the country – the Chicago Public League.

Adrahtas spends his days providing physical therapy, rehab, and injury evaluation to student athletes. But the job goes beyond that, offering student emotional therapy and support.

Adrahtas says what he provides can be helpful to any sport. But not many Chicago Public Schools students get those benefits.

Though there are more than 80 public high schools across Chicago, Adrahtas can count the number of athletic trainers in the Chicago Public League on two hands.

According to Adrahtas, just six schools have athletic trainers: Lane, Walter Payton, Jones, Whitney Young, Taft, and Von Steuben. All are on the city’s more affluent North Side and all serve a lower proportion of low-income students than the rest of the district.

Joey Gelman, sports communications manager at CPS, confirmed six schools have allotted funds for athletic training services, but did not indicate which ones.

The problem is not unique to Chicago. According to the National Athletic Trainers Association, 42% of schools in Illinois don’t have athletic trainers.

This support on and off the field shouldn’t be something students only get if they are lucky enough to attend a privileged school, said Stacy Lambert, an assistant executive director with the Illinois High School Association who oversees the sports medicine advisory committee.

“They’re extremely important, not only for their medical abilities in being a first responder for a team if a player gets injured,” Lambert said. “I think back to my own high school participation, the athletic trainer is kind of that first person that really checks in with the athlete, prior to a game or to a practice, see how they’re feeling.”

High school athletics and injuries go hand-in-hand. According to the National Athletic Trainers Association, 90% of student athletes nationally report some sort of sports injury.

“Just in sports, injuries happen all the time, no matter who you are,” Adrahtas said. “And somebody to help guide them is huge.”

Jacob Maza, a baseball player and junior at Lane Tech, appreciates the injury prevention and recovery work he does with Adrahtas — everything from a type of massage therapy called cupping to stretching.

“I do a lot of exercises with him for my body,” Maza said. “It’s just like anything that I really need, he has.”

While trainers at games provide immediate help when there’s injuries, as Maza says, much of their benefits come away from the actual games.

Through learning and communication with Adrahtas, Maza has explored the field as a potential career in his post-playing days.

“I’ve now recently kind of looked into becoming a physical therapist, in college and having that as my major,” Maza said. “Because I would just love to do what he does.”

While all of those aspects are important, Adrahtas said there are “emergency situations” when athletic trainers and the skills they bring are critical.

“It’s the top 1% of things that happen.” Adrahtas said. “Like for football games, it’s the cervical spine injuries. Kids passing out on the court. Direct blow to the chest that needs CPR, like those upper upper echelon of emergency situations. We’re all trained in that and we practice it over and over and over and over and over again. And so we’re prepared for those situations.”

Dan Finger, the head football coach at Whitney Young, recalls a junior varsity game between Young and Richards in 2019, when a Richards athlete was knocked unconscious. He says having the trainer there was “crucial” to make sure the player was OK and to walk the coaches through what needed to happen.

“It was a very, very serious injury,” Finger said. Without the trainer, the incident might not have been handled as well, he said.

Lambert says that injuries most often occur in high contact sports, such as football. But according to Adam Babiarz, the athletic trainer at Taft High School, they find themselves useful for just about every sport.

“There’s a lot of different after-school activities that athletic trainers provide services for,” Babiarz said. “Any after-school activity would benefit from having a certified health care professional on site to treat them in the event that there’s any accidents.”

But in CPS, funding can play a role in the lack of athletic trainers.

At Morgan Park High School, athletic director Ebony Jones said there’s not enough money in the budget to hire an athletic trainer.

“I think the hardest part with trying to get an athletic trainer at a high school – even with as many sports as a Morgan Park, a Kenwood, a Whitney Young, a Lane Tech has – is where does that budget line come from?” Ebony said. “Is that another staff position? How does that get paid?”

But, according to Jones, even if schools had enough money, there aren’t enough athletic trainers.

That problem might not be going away anytime soon. A recent switch in national requirements now means athletic trainers have to get a master’s degree instead of just a bachelor’s. This, according to Babiarz, is going to create a sort of “waiting game,” as potential job candidates take time to earn a more advanced degree.

Schools without athletic trainers often partner with a local clinic or hospital that offers athletic training services.

“Sometimes that’s more difficult to do in certain areas of the state,” Lambert, with IHSA, said.

Another option to increase the number of athletic trainers would be a statewide mandate, though Lambert said IHSA has not considered that. The two main obstacles – finances and available trainers – would remain even with a mandate.

Gelman, with CPS’ Office of Sports Administration, said money is being allocated to a pilot program aimed at increasing the presence of athletic trainers across the Chicago Public League.

That’s welcome news to Babiarz, the athletic trainer at Taft.

“I think every high school in America should have an athletic trainer,” he said.

Alex Burstein is a senior at Lane Tech College Prep High School. Contact Alex on Twitter at @alex_burstein.

Colorado schools, child care centers must test water for lead, make fixes

2022-08-11T20:56:04+00:00

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A new state law will require about 5,800 Colorado elementary schools and child care centers to test their drinking water for lead and install filters or do repairs if they find elevated levels.

Schools and child care facilities will have until May 31 to test their water and will have to make fixes if lead levels are 5 parts per billion or higher. That threshold is the same as the limit set by the federal government for bottled water but lower than what most Colorado school districts previously used.

The law, which comes with $21 million for testing and repairs, represents the first time Colorado has established regulations governing lead levels in school and child care drinking water. It comes as a growing number of states have passed laws to address childhood lead exposure following the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Lead is a harmful neurotoxin that can cause learning disabilities and behavior problems, with even low levels of exposure impacting a child’s IQ. Lead levels in American children have decreased dramatically since the 1970s, but studies show many children still have detectable levels.

A 2021 study published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics found that 72% of Colorado children under 6 who were tested had detectable levels of lead in their blood — though many young children in the state are never tested at all.

What to know about Colorado’s new lead law

Colorado elementary schools and child care centers will have to test all drinking water sources for lead by May 31, 2023.
If lead levels exceeds 5 parts per billion — a new, lower standard — schools and child care providers must make repairs or install filters.
Schools and child care centers will have to notify families about the results of testing and what they’re doing to resolve issues.
The law comes with $21 million to pay for testing and repairs at elementary schools and child care facilities. Middle schools will be eligible for funds if there is money left over.
Lead exposure can cause speech, attention, and behavior problems in children.
Drinking water is just one possible source of lead exposure. Other sources include lead paint, lead paint dust, and imported cookware, spices, candy or jewelry.

Generally, Colorado lawmakers, school officials, and advocates praised the new law for taking steps toward ensuring students have safe drinking water at school or child care, though for some, it didn’t go as far as they’d hoped.

Jaquikeyah Fields, communications director at the Colorado People’s Alliance, a racial justice group that helped shape the bill, described the law as a big accomplishment that could serve as a stepping stone to future legislation on the topic.

“I think that the goal was to do more with it,” she said, but it’s ”still pretty solid.”

Bob Lawson, executive director for facilities management and construction in the 15,000-student Pueblo School District 60, said he’s pleased the law establishes a clear lead threshold for school water.

“At least they’ve done something to create a standard for us to use,” he said. “That’s the big thing because Colorado didn’t have anything.”

Elin Betanzo, a water scientist who helped uncover the Flint crisis, said legislation to ensure safer drinking water in schools is a good thing, but that installing filters right away is a better strategy than testing water sources and then making fixes. She said it’s well known that school drinking water often contains detectable levels of lead.

In part that’s because plumbing advertised as “lead free” is still allowed to contain a small amount of lead.

“Water is a universal solvent. When water’s in contact with lead, the lead gets into the water,” said Betanzo, founder of the Detroit consulting firm Safe Water Engineering.

“It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow … If the lead is present, it’s going to be in your water at some point.”

Evolving legislation

Colorado’s new lead law changed significantly from its introduction in part because of pushback from some school and early childhood leaders. The final version contains fewer and less stringent requirements than were in early drafts.

In its original form, the bill would have required schools and child care programs to install filters on all drinking water sources, install a filtered bottle-filling station for every 100 children, and conduct annual testing of lead levels in drinking water. Fixes, plus new signage and other notification, would have been required for all water sources with lead levels of 1 part per billion or higher.

The 1 part per billion threshold is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for school water fountains, but few states have adopted it. Instead, most with recent laws on lead levels set the limit at 5 or 10 parts per billion. Maine’s threshold is 4 parts per billion.

Groups representing child care providers initially opposed the bill, saying the proposed rules would have been onerous and cost prohibitive.

Dawn Alexander, executive director of the Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado, said it would be unfair to hold child care facilities to such strict standards, when many cases of lead poisoning originate in children’s homes, which are not subject to such rules. During her time in a previous job at the Weld County health department, she found that investigators usually traced high lead levels to lead paint in a child’s residence.

“It just doesn’t make sense to have these … impositions on businesses that are already struggling when it’s not really the source that’s generating such extreme health issues in the children in our state.”

Alexander said she was pleased with the final version of the bill: “They really did bring it to a much more reasonable approach.”

Licensed home-based child care providers will be able to opt out of the new requirements.

Mark Anderson, a pediatrician at Denver Health, thinks the law is a good one, especially because it comes with money to help schools and child care centers cover the cost of testing and repairs.

“If cost isn’t a concern I can’t think of a good reason not to get the lead out of the water,” he said.

But Anderson noted that water isn’t the main source of high lead levels in Colorado children.

“You’d have to drink a lot of water to get a lot of exposure if it was 15 [parts per billion] or below,” he said.

Anderson, who is part of a regional network of experts on children’s environmental health, said most often high lead levels in children stem from exposure to lead paint, lead paint dust, or a category he called “imports,” which can include cookware, spices, or candy from other countries.

Researchers have found that children living in ZIP codes with predominantly Black or Hispanic populations are more likely to have detectable lead levels than children living in ZIP codes with predominantly white residents.

Post-Flint school efforts

In the wake of the Flint water crisis, some Colorado school districts began voluntarily testing school water and making fixes when lead levels hit or exceeded 15 parts per billion — the level used at that time by the Environmental Protection Agency to trigger action by water utilities.

Starting in 2017, some Colorado districts took advantage of a voluntary state grant program that paid for lead-testing in schools, but the program didn’t cover repair costs and wasn’t widely used.

Officials in the Denver school district, Colorado’s largest, began testing water in 2016 using the 15 parts per billion standard, switching to a 10 parts per billion threshold in 2019. Over the last six years, the district replaced 264 plumbing fixtures, and installed 83 water fountain filters.

But the new law will require additional work because previous testing found about 150 drinking fountains with lead levels above the new threshold but below the old one.

Joni Rix, the district’s environmental program manager, said even though some of those fountains are in middle and high schools, which aren’t the focus of the new law, the district will install filters on them.

The fixes, she said, will cost “a good chunk of money” — about $1,000 each for initial filter installation and $70 for annual maintenance.

State Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat and one of the legislation’s sponsors, said lawmakers used higher-end estimates in allocating one-time COVID recovery money for the new law. State health officials said they hope that will cover as much of the testing and remediation costs as possible, but details have yet to be worked out.

In the Pueblo 60 district, five schools will get fixes this month to comply with the new 5 parts per billion threshold. While district officials tested all water sources districtwide in 2017 and 2018, they used a 10 parts per billion threshold to determine where to make fixes.

Officials in the Mesa County Valley district in western Colorado made fixes at five of 42 schools after participating in the voluntary state grant program a few years ago. Aside from the buildings where new fittings or bottler fillers were installed, no schools had lead levels higher than the newly established 5 parts per billion limit.

The district has since built two new schools, but hasn’t received guidance from state health officials about whether lead testing is required.

“If they want us to test those sites we’d be more than glad to, but I don’t see any reason why we’d have to do that,” said Eddie Mort, the district’s maintenance coordinator.

A spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which will oversee implementation of the new law, said no decision has been made about whether schools or child care facilities that have tested their water in recent years will have to conduct a new series of tests.

“The final approach may not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for all schools across the state that previously tested,” she said by email.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Michigan school mental health program on track to expand with $50 million funding boost

2022-08-09T11:00:00+00:00

The last time administrator Kristina Hansen intervened in a school fight, she didn’t have to say much.

One of the students already knew what he should have done differently.

“That would have been a perfect time to practice my breathing, but I didn’t,” the student told her after a brief shoving match with another boy in the cafeteria at Bark River-Harris Junior High School in the Upper Peninsula. “I blew my lid.”

He had forgotten to use the tools he learned in TRAILS, a program his school adopted last year to help students manage emotions and make good decisions. With more exposure to the program and more practice using its techniques, he’ll be able to calm himself before his behavior escalates, said Hansen, who was hired last year as the Bark River-Harris School District’s student success coordinator. She runs programs to support students academically and behaviorally including TRAILS, which stands for Transforming Research Into Action to Improve the Lives of Students.

Developed a decade ago at the University of Michigan, the program now is in about 700 schools and could soon be in a lot more thanks to a nearly tenfold boost in state funding.

The state school aid budget signed into law last month provides for $50 million in funding over the next four years. That’s a big jump from last year’s overlapping state appropriation of $5.4 million over three years.

“The beautiful thing about the last two years’ worth of budgets is that the state has acknowledged that not only are children’s mental health challenges profound in the state, in the country, but that the Legislature has to be a part of the solution,” state Superintendent Michael Rice said.

The additional funding comes as schools struggle to find enough resources to help students recover from grief, loss, social isolation, trauma, and other mental health effects of the pandemic. School leaders across the country are reporting more classroom disruptions, student fights, and physical attacks that they attribute to lingering effects of the pandemic. Misbehavior was a defining characteristic that complicated efforts to get children back on track academically after two years of disjointed learning.

The boost for TRAILS is just one way the state Legislature is trying to address the problem in Michigan. The 2022-23 budget also creates a new $150 million program for mental health grants and provides $25 million for school-based health centers — up from $11 million last year. Many school districts also are tapping federal COVID relief funds to bring mental health programs to their students.

Elizabeth Koschmann, TRAILS founder and executive director, said the new funding will make a big difference in the number of students the program reaches over the next four years.

She couldn’t provide a total operating budget because TRAILS is funded on a project-by-project basis from numerous sources, including federal grants, private donations, and Medicaid reimbursements for its work in high-poverty areas.

TRAILS provides resources, training, and consulting to school staff members at all levels, from support staff through administrators. In some schools, only one or two teachers have gone through the training, but the program works best when everyone participates.

“What’s important is that we not delegate mental health to a single individual or a couple individuals in a school,” Rice said.

At Bark River-Harris, every staff member and all 725 students in the district have been exposed to the program’s first tier, which provides 15 hours’ worth of lessons teachers can deliver to their classes to introduce them to mindfulness and self-care practices.

Other tiers of the TRAILS program offer training in suicide risk management and facilitating small group sessions for students who need extra support.

Hansen said all of her teachers find ways to make time for the TRAILS curriculum, even if it takes time from academics. That’s true in other districts, too.

“We’re not hearing from (teachers) that it’s interfering with academic content delivery, because they need this content, too,” Koschmann said. “They’re saying their kids, almost across the board, are one to two years behind socially and developmentally from where they should be. … They’re saying they need an anchoring program to bolster basic skills.”

Nationally, spending on such social and emotional learning programs grew almost 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to one report.

While teachers are on board, some parents are skeptical of TRAILS’s focus on social and emotional learning, Koschmann said. Some conservatives say they believe SEL programs indoctrinate children with liberal ideas about gender identity and the lingering effects of slavery on modern institutions, neither of which is part of TRAILS or other programs. Others say schools should focus on academics, not social and emotional learning, which they believe to be parents’ job.

“They don’t want a classroom teacher teaching values to a child because that’s a family’s personal decision and they want to have control over that,” Koschmann said of the critics. “We don’t want to be teaching values to your child either. We want to equip your child with the tools that will help them manage really difficult emotions like disappointment, rejection, anxiety, worry, sadness, and fear so they can engage more fully in their classroom and can become better citizens in terms of how they handle feeling dysregulated, upset, or worried.”

None of that is political, she said.

“If a kid is showing a behavioral difficulty in a classroom but really wants to be behaving in a compliant way, our curriculum equips them with tools to help them manage their behavior more effectively,” Koschmann said.

That’s what Hansen saw happen in the Bark River-Harris cafeteria when the student realized he could have used a breathing technique to calm himself.

“You could almost see the lightbulb go off,” Hansen remembers.

Another student had a different kind of breakthrough that Hansen also attributes to TRAILS. A withdrawn high school student who wasn’t participating in class or socializing with friends suddenly became more engaged three-quarters of the way through the school year. He told her that listening to classmates talk during TRAILS lessons made him realize that he wasn’t the only one struggling with anxiety.

“Here was a kid floating along under the radar, and just by having it be a more acceptable practice to talk about feelings and struggles,” he was able to feel a greater sense of belonging that allowed him to participate more, Hansen said.

Hansen said a common lexicon is essential to the program’s success at Bark River-Harris. Everyone in the district speaks the same language and knows the same behavioral strategies.

When a child closes their eyes for a few moments in class, other students understand that they’re trying to calm their anxiety using a visualization tool, deep breathing, or another TRAILS strategy, Hansen said. If a food services worker asks a distressed student to name and rate the intensity of the emotion they’re feeling, they know how to do it because they’ve practiced using a feelings thermometer, she said.

Koschmann wants every school to be like that, and says the additional state funding will help a lot. Her team is still discussing the best ways to use it.

“We’re going to have to be really smart to make sure we can adequately staff our team to provide services at a high level but don’t set ourselves up for a fiscal cliff at the end of the funding period,” she said. “We can’t just hire, hire, hire and not have a long-term plan.”

Still, she said, there’s an urgency to train more teachers quickly.

“Schools need the support immediately,” she said. “They can’t wait. The demand for student mental health services, training for staff, materials for staff, and consultations is unbelievable.”

Tracie Mauriello covers state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit and Bridge Michigan. Reach her at tmauriello@chalkbeat.org.

5 school-based health clinics shuttered due to SUNY Downstate budget woes

2022-08-03T21:59:56+00:00

Five school-based health clinics serving 10 schools in Brooklyn closed last month because of budget constraints, according to a letter from operator SUNY Downstate.

Now, families are rallying to try and save the facilities.

City officials were “disappointed” with SUNY Downstate’s move to close the clinics on July 1, but said they will ensure the five campuses have school nurses in September. Families remain worried about the gap in health care for their community. More than 8,500 have signed on to a campaign calling for SUNY Downstate to keep the clinics open at least until a partnership with another hospital can be established.

The clinics provide a higher level of care than a traditional school nurse. Their pediatric nurse practitioners and physician assistants can administer medication and write prescriptions. They provide immunizations, blood tests, and other preventive or urgent care that children typically receive at a pediatrician’s office.

The clinics also offer adolescent health education and contraception, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases — helpful services for teens who might not want to discuss such issues with a family doctor. They also offer mental health care and drug abuse treatment.

The services are offered for free regardless of insurance status, and for many parents who can’t take off from work for medical visits, they are a lifeline for their children’s health care.

“These clinics are exactly like having a doctor’s office in your school building,” said Reyhan Mehran, whose daughter attends Brooklyn Collaborative, a middle and high school which shares its Carroll Gardens building and clinic with the the Brooklyn New School. “There’s so much need for these services right now after all that kids in this city have been through with the pandemic. Having these clinics in our public schools has always been invaluable, but right now they are even more so.”

Scill Chan, the principal of Brooklyn Collaborative, and Diane Castelucci, of Brooklyn New School, called their clinic an “essential part” of their school communities.

“The abrupt closure of the clinics that have served thousands of young people in our schools is shocking, and we need to work together to find the essential funding to keep these vital services open,” the principals said in a statement.

Officials from SUNY Downstate said they have been working with state and local partners to “ensure a smooth transition” from the medical center operating the clinics.

“Due to the expansion of health coverage and other supports, the same level of care will be available in the community to all children,” according to a statement from SUNY Downstate.

A group of eight nurse practitioners, social workers and other health professionals who had staffed the clinics wrote a letter to the superintendents and principals condemning the closures, pointing a finger at SUNY Downstate for mismanagement and warning about a potential void of care for students.

“The abrupt announcement of the closure is shocking, irresponsible, and wrong, abandoning chances for problem solving and leaving our communities with a huge deficit in care,” they wrote.

SUNY Downstate declined to comment further on the financial strain leading to the closures.

The medical center took over four of the clinics more than a decade ago from the now-defunct Long Island College Hospital, or LICH, after parents advocated to keep the clinics open. Those four clinics were on the chopping block in 2017, due to state budget cuts, but were saved after public outcry.

Across the five boroughs, students at nearly 390 schools have access to on-campus clinics run by various health care organizations. They have been shown to reduce absences and lower the likelihood of hospital visits. The city has leaned on the model for its community schools, which offer wrap-around services for students in low-income neighborhoods.

The school-based health clinic became her daughter’s “second home away from our home,” said Cherlece Acosta, pictured here with her daughter. “The nurse there was on top of it. She genuinely cared.”

They also help children manage chronic conditions like diabetes and asthma, which is why Cherlece Acosta was relentless in trying to get her daughter — who has both conditions — into Park Slope’s M.S. 51.

Acosta’s daughter, who graduated from the middle school this year, made frequent trips to the school’s health clinic, one of the five that SUNY Downstate closed. Sometimes her daughter might need help for an insulin pump failure, or if her blood sugar got too low she could become disoriented, the mom said.

P.S. 38 mom Jelena Vojvodic, a parent of a third grader with a severe peanut allergy, felt like she had peace of mind with the on-site clinic run by SUNY Downstate. The clinic’s nurse helped raise awareness at the school for food allergies, as well as COVID, she said.

Sarah Thomas, whose children attend the Brooklyn New School, said the school-based clinic has been a big help for her son’s “emotional issues.” Its therapist and nurse have helped calm him down when needed.

“We’re in the middle of a mental health crisis,” Thomas said. “If anything, there should be more money to get the help children need.”

She was also able to get her son’s routine checkups done at the clinic, which allowed her to avoid long wait times at her pediatrician’s office.

Officials from the city’s health and education departments, did not say whether another operator would take over the clinics, but said in a statement: “For the time being, the city will place school nurses in each of the buildings affected starting in September to ensure families are connected to care.”

New York City schools have long faced a school nurse shortage. There were 579 vacancies for permanent school nurses as of June, according to figures from the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s teachers union.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Why your child’s school really wants you to apply for free lunch

2022-07-20T17:00:00+00:00

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Add one more thing to your to-do list before school starts: an application for free and reduced-price lunch.

This year, school district leaders are renewing the push reminding parents to fill out this form. For the past two years, students could get school meals for free whether their parents filled out the form or not — but that won’t be the case this fall.

Beth Wallace, the executive director for food and nutrition services for Jeffco Public Schools, said her district served about 30% more meals than before the pandemic.

At the same time, as the eligibility forms weren’t required, districts saw a drop in the population identified as eligible for subsidized lunches. In Jeffco, eligibility dropped 10% to about 28% of the student population from the 2019-20 school year. Across the country, districts reported similar patterns.

District leaders and child advocates wanted the federal government to allow schools to continue offering free lunches to all students, but the government has reinstated the requirement to prove a student’s eligibility.

Colorado voters will consider a ballot measure in November to offer free school meals for all students, but that won’t change anything for this coming school year. This fall, students must have a new form on file with their school district to determine if they’re eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Wallace said. “Now we have second graders who have never gone into this process.”

With the help of some district directors of school meal programs, Chalkbeat got answers to some basic questions about how it all works.

Who has to fill out the form and when does it need to be filled out?

Any parent who feels they need help covering the cost of school meals should fill out the form. The form asks for information about your income and household size that will be used to figure out if you qualify. A family of four would qualify for free lunch if the household income was $36,075 or less. The form also asks for the last four digits of a Social Security number, but that is not required to receive assistance.

There isn’t a strict deadline for when to fill it out. Really, you could fill it out anytime during the school year, but the forms aren’t retroactive. If you wait until October to fill it out, even if you are deemed eligible for free lunch, you would still be charged for meals that your children take from the start of the school year, until whenever the school district approves your form.

And just because you’ve filled out a form in the past, that doesn’t exempt you. The forms are never valid past June 30, so even if you fill one out in May, for example, it expires at the end of June. After July 1, every family needs to fill out the form again.

If a family experiences a change in the middle of the school year — like a new baby, or a loss of income — they can apply to change their status that year. Also, if you change school districts in the middle of the school year, you’ll need to fill out a new form again because districts don’t share the forms with each other.

Are there options for how to fill it out?

Yes! Many parents fill out the forms online, but your district should have paper copies available as well. Additionally, some districts, like Jeffco, set up computer cubicles where parents can come in and fill out these forms while receiving guidance.

Many districts also provide the forms in different languages. If you need help filling out the form or want to request a paper or translated copy, call your district’s lunch services department.

Who sees the information I put on my form?

Usually only one or two people read and process forms, depending on the school district, leaders say.

The school districts have to report how many students applied and were deemed eligible for the federal government to pay for the lunches those students receive, but that information is given to the government in aggregate. The federal departments don’t get copies of the forms parents fill out. District directors say schools never share these forms with immigration officials either.

Other than that, state auditors sometimes request to look at some of the forms from a district to verify that the district is processing forms correctly. “They don’t look at any information beyond that,” said Tony Jorstad, director of nutrition services for the 27J school district.

If I don’t qualify for free lunch, or my child doesn’t eat school food, why should I fill it out?

District leaders point out that there are other benefits to families, and to schools, other than the reduced cost of school meals.

For example, a family that qualifies for free or reduced-price meals might also qualify for waivers or fee reductions for various school or district services and activities like sports, transportation, and technology. Outside of school, internet providers also offer households a reduced price for internet access if children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

The amount of funding schools get from the federal government, the state, and the district can depend on how many of their students qualify for the subsidized meals. The forms are used to measure poverty, which may qualify schools to receive more resources for students.

And even without the federal government waiver that allowed all meals to be free for all students, when a school has a particularly high level of students living in poverty, it may still be able to offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students.

If school lunch departments have less money coming in, will students see a difference in the meals that are offered?

School lunch directors say no. Although all districts are expecting fewer students to eat school lunches, because fewer will qualify for subsidies, officials also expect a bump in reimbursement per meal, compared with pre-pandemic levels.

However, supply chain difficulties and increased costs of food could affect what foods show up on menus.

“We really try to plan our menus to work within the reimbursement that we think we’re going to be getting,” Jorstad said. “Right now we’re not looking at changing any menu products of fruit and veggie choices that we offer. We’re pretty proud of the fresh fruit and veggie choices that we offer each day.”

If families don’t qualify for free or reduced-price meals, but still can’t send their child with lunch or money for a school meal, can schools offer other help?

District lunch directors said this is a tough question. Parents should talk to their school about other options. Federal rules prevent school districts from giving school meals away for free.

Often, a school may allow a student to take meals without paying, but will bill the families for the meals. Before the pandemic began, many school districts worried about how much debt families were accumulating. Some schools have a discretionary budget specifically for these situations. In other cases, districts have received donations to help clear debt that students may accumulate for school meals.

“Don’t be afraid to ask,” Jorstad said. “But the first thing, the most important thing, is filling out that form, that information, to figure out that determination.”

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s how to get free summer meals at NYC schools, pools, and parks

2022-07-19T22:41:12+00:00

New York City’s education department recently served its millionth free summer meal to young people across the five boroughs.

The vast majority of those meals were served during the school day to children attending Summer Rising, the city’s free program that mixes academics and enrichment for elementary and middle school students. Only about 16% were takeaway meals, according to city officials.

Advocates are still trying to get the word out about the program’s free breakfast and lunch. Anyone 18 years old or younger, whether or not they attend public school, can get meals at more than 300 city sites.

Before the start of the pandemic, 1 in 5 children in the city were hungry. Now it’s 1 in 4, according to anti-hunger nonprofit City Harvest. Advocates are concerned the problem will get worse. Skyrocketing rents, grocery prices, and energy costs are squeezing many New York City families just as some safety net programs, such as child tax credits and the eviction moratorium, have ended.

The state has distributed what may be the last installment of Coronavirus Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer or P-EBT funds, allocating this June $375 in food benefits per public school student to make up for school meals lost last summer, whether they attended summer school or not.

Nearly two-thirds of public school parents have found it harder to afford food and groceries, according to a recent poll from the No Kid Hungry campaign at the nonprofit Share Our Strength. The campaign created a site to help families find free meals.

“Summer is the hungriest time of year for kids in New York – but it doesn’t have to be,” Rachel Sabella, No Kid Hungry New York’s director, said in a statement. “Free summer meals are a lifeline to families and kids.”

Providing free meals to students is also a major education issue, and is crucial in boosting academic outcomes, researchers have found. Children who are hungry are more likely to repeat a grade in elementary school, have language or other delays, and exhibit more social and behavioral problems, according to the nonprofit Feeding America.

Where do I find free school meals this summer?

The 300 summer meal sites include schools, community pool centers, and parks, including food trucks at three parks (Sara D. Roosevelt Park in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Holcombe Rucker Park in Harlem, and Rufus King Playground in Jamaica Queens).

You can text “NYC Food” or “NYC COMIDA” to 304-304, and No Kid Hungry will respond with your nearest locations. You can also call 311 for nearby meal sites.

The education department’s website also has a list of locations.

When are the meals available?

The program runs through Sept. 2.

Breakfast is served from 8-9:15 a.m.

Lunch is served from 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m.

Who is eligible for meals?

All children 18 and under can get the meals whether they attend public school or not. No reservation, documentation, or ID is required. (Adults must be accompanied by a young person to pick up meals.)

You must remain on-site to eat hot meals, but can take pre-packaged cold meals to go.

Prior to the pandemic, only children could eat free summer meals, and they had to do so at their pick-up locations because of federal guidelines. That shifted during the past two summers when the city began allowing any child or adult to pick up meals and eat them off-site thanks to pandemic-related waivers.

This summer, only young people once again are eligible for the summer meals. But Congress passed the Keep Kids Fed Act at the end of last month, extending pandemic-era waivers allowing school districts to offer young people grab-and-go summer meals.

While some districts may have found it difficult to pivot to the grab-and-go meals after the last-minute waivers were granted, the New York City education department’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services was able to make tweaks, for instance, by allowing students flexibility with to-go meals.

“We were well prepared,” said Christopher Tricarico, the office’s executive director.

Still, only about 160,000 of the to-go meals have been distributed so far this summer, according to officials.

How are the meals funded?

The meals are funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

What’s on the menu?

For hot meals, similar to the school year, Mondays are meatless and Fridays are vegan. There are also daily cold offerings such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, and hummus. The education department has a menu here.

No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives are used. No fried food is served.

Twenty-two sites offer halal food, and the city posted a list of five sites on Tuesday offering kosher meals.

What happens to uneaten meals?

Waste is kept to a minimum since cafeteria staffers do batch cooking that factors in the ebb and flow of students, Tricarico said.

Last summer, the city donated unused meals to food pantries, he said. At a City Council hearing last month, he mentioned a forthcoming pilot this school year to divert unused food to pantries. Elected officials raised concerns that students sometimes just want one thing from the cafeteria, such as an apple or carrots, but they have to take a full meal regardless because of federal reimbursement rules, so much of that food ends up in the trash.

Who prepares the meals?

The city’s school cafeteria workforce dipped this year, especially after the COVID vaccine mandate took effect. Tricarico noted that there were 500 vacancies, but that the city was holding frequent job fairs.

Another issue is the lack of cooling and ventilation, with kitchen temperatures reaching 130 degrees, according to last month’s City Council testimony from Donald Nesbit from District Council 37 AFSCME, the union representing 9,000 school food workers.

This summer, cafeterias got a boost from the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides jobs to youth, ages 14-21, in various industries. About 100 young people got jobs making summer meals, Tricarico said.

“We are providing them with training,” he said. He hopes the experience provides a career pathway into school food services.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Denver schools to monitor indoor air quality using federal COVID money

2022-07-19T21:49:02+00:00

All Denver school buildings will get air quality sensors this summer as part of a broader pandemic-fueled effort to improve the air students breathe.

Denver Public Schools is spending $1.5 million on about 800 sensors, which will be placed in 10% of the district’s classrooms, a spokesperson said. The $1.5 million is a small fraction of the $205 million in federal COVID stimulus money, known as ESSER funds, that the 90,000-student district received. The district must spend the money by 2024.

“We know now, more than ever, that good indoor air quality contributes to a favorable environment for students and staff, and is part of assisting a school with its core mission of educating children,” district spokesperson Scott Pribble said in a statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused educators and families to question the air quality inside schools, an aspect of public education some researchers said got too little attention for too long as students suffered with allergies, asthma, and airborne viruses that can disrupt learning.

Districts around Colorado and the nation are scrambling to use federal COVID funding to address the issue, sometimes buying air cleaning systems that scientists warn are unproven.

But two experts at the University of Colorado Boulder said the sensors Denver Public Schools has purchased are a smart way to help prioritize how and where to improve air quality.

“You can’t monitor what you don’t measure,” said civil engineering Professor Mark Hernandez, who ran an air filter pilot project at 17 Denver schools last year. “It’s meant to help them prioritize: ‘Let’s find the worst-performing buildings or classrooms first, and let’s start with those.’”

A Senseware air quality sensor.

Made by a company called Senseware, the sensors continuously monitor air temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds in the air to gauge whether a school’s ventilation strategy is working, co-founder and CEO Serene Almomen said.

The information they collect is displayed on an online dashboard. The system can send real-time email or text alerts if the sensors detect a problem, Almomen said.

If a classroom’s carbon dioxide level is high, it might indicate there are too many students in too small of a space, which could be addressed by increased social distancing, she said. If particulate matter readings go up, it could mean it’s time to change the air filters or add a portable unit to the classroom, a strategy that Hernandez’s pilot program found worked.

Many cleaning products emit volatile organic compounds, and Almomen said the sensors can help ensure schools don’t unintentionally create new problems while solving other ones.

“The whole idea is keeping things at the right healthy level around the clock,” she said.

Denver Public Schools said Senseware will send notifications to the district’s environmental services department. If the department suspects there’s a maintenance issue with the ventilation system at a school, they can put in a request to fix it. The data from the sensors will also show trends that the district can use to plan future work, Pribble said.

Senseware has installed sensors in schools across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Atlanta, a company spokesperson said. In addition to the sensors, Denver Public Schools is using ESSER money to add digital controls to schools’ heating and ventilation systems to centrally regulate things like temperature and outside air exchange, Pribble said.

The district also is repairing and replacing HVAC components like exhaust fans and boilers, and is building more outdoor classrooms. Two years ago, it spent nearly $5 million to repair HVAC systems, clean the equipment, and upgrade school air filters to either MERV 11 or 13, depending on what the system could handle.

Nicholas Clements, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral research associate at CU Boulder, said those types of upgrades are key to effective sensors.

“If you spend money on sensors but manage your buildings as before except for a couple service tickets, I don’t always see the value in that,” Clements said. “Sensors are not as successful as a one-off project if you’re not also upgrading other systems.”

Denver already monitors outdoor air pollution at some schools, but both Clements and Hernandez said the increased attention indoors is a step forward.

“There is a lot more attention on indoor air quality as a result of the pandemic,” Clements said. “Of the buildings that need the most attention … schools are a big one.”

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis school custodial contract wins board approval after workers plead for raise

2022-06-07T00:21:09+00:00

After months of debate, Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members on Monday signed off on a $34.4 million custodial services contract that ensures school janitorial workers an hourly base pay rate of $15, up from the current $10.

The board’s 7-0 vote during Monday’s specially called meeting means ServiceMaster Clean — which has two franchises currently working for MSCS — will be the district’s sole provider of cleaning services over the next four years, starting July 1.

For weeks, administrators have said they believe the $34 million contract — a 30% jump from this year’s nearly $26 million contract — would address longstanding community concerns with the cleanliness of classrooms and school facilities. With higher wages, officials said, the district and ServiceMaster Clean could see happier employees, less turnover, and, in turn, cleaner schools.

Despite their previous hesitations, board members agreed.

Their unanimous vote (board members Billy Orgel and Miska Clay Bibbs were absent) was met with loud applause from the ServiceMaster Clean employees who addressed the board during public comment and the roughly 20 others who attended the meeting, dressed in their work uniforms.

Marshall K. Garmon said she and her fellow ServiceMaster Clean employees work “very, very hard” to ensure all schools are clean — especially during the summer. But amid high inflation, she said, the current hourly wage is “just not enough money for us to live.”

Tasha Rhodes, another ServiceMaster Clean employee, said she and many of her coworkers have had to get second or third jobs just to make ends meet.

“We are the reason why the schools are able to be open for our kids to be able to learn in a clean, germ-free, COVID-free environment,” Rhodes told the board. “I’m at a point where I feel like I’m being overworked and underpaid.”

“I’m not asking for a pay raise just for me,” she added, “but for all of us.”

Referencing Memphis’ 1968 sanitation strike, Superintendent Joris Ray said Monday that approving the contract would ensure that critical school custodial workers — most of whom are women of color — have the “dignity of making an honest living wage” and are not forced to work multiple jobs in order to provide for their families.

“This is a moment where we can get this right, not only for those families, but for the entire city of Memphis and Shelby County,” Ray said ahead of the vote.

Just days earlier, the board had rejected the contract in a 4-2 vote, with opponents citing unanswered questions. In recent weeks, several board members questioned why administrators would recommend they continue working with any ServiceMaster operation when many in the community have expressed frustration with school buildings not being properly cleaned and employees not being paid a living wage.

Board Vice Chair Althea Greene was among those who switched her vote on Monday. She emphasized that her vote against the contract last week was not because she didn’t believe ServiceMaster Clean employees deserved a raise but rather because of several unanswered questions that have now been answered.

“My heart is right out there with you, but I wanted my questions to be answered,” Greene said. “I want you to make enough money where you don’t have to work two jobs. I lived that kind of life, working two or three jobs. I want you to be able to buy gas and put food on the table for your families.”

Board member Joyce Dorse-Coleman echoed Greene’s remarks, saying she wanted to ensure ServiceMaster Clean couldn’t cut employees’ hours or give them more work to do after raising the hourly wage.

“I have to make sure that I get it right for you,” she said.

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

N.J. is supposed to replace Newark’s crumbling schools. So far, it hasn’t.

2022-06-06T21:06:11+00:00

Joshcelynne Henderson fondly recalls her childhood school in New Jersey with its green lawns, shiny playground equipment, and bright classrooms.

The elementary school she went to in wealthy Somerset County is a world apart from the one her children attend in Newark. Students there struggle to focus on hot days in classrooms without air conditioning, they couldn’t use the water fountains this year due to lead concerns, and at recess they dart across bare asphalt that serves as both playground and parking lot.

“These schools are old,” she said.

Indeed, the average Newark school building was erected more than 90 years ago, district officials say — more than twice the national average — and many suffer from leaky roofs, outdated boilers, and dilapidated restrooms. Rundown buildings can dampen students’ enthusiasm for school and, in some cases, impair their learning.

Now, Newark wants to modernize its aging schools — a dream which, in the past, has been dashed by inadequate funding.

The district is looking to construct 10 new school buildings and undertake major repairs at more than 60 existing schools, according to an ambitious five-year capital plan, which the state approved in March.

New buildings would be erected for three existing schools, one yet-to-open school, and six closed schools that would be brought back to life, according to the plan, which officials have not discussed publicly. (District spokesperson Nancy Deering said in a statement that officials “will discuss details of those projects with parents and the community as they come to fruition.”)

The plan also calls for some 275 renovation projects, including repairs to roofs and plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and fire alarm systems. Henderson said such improvements would send a strong message to students.

“I absolutely think that if their schools are repaired and updated,” she said, “they’ll see that people care about them.”

But the plan raises an uncomfortable question: Who will pay for it?

Each new building would cost between $15 million and $75 million, and the repairs alone would total $350 million, according to district estimates.

There’s no doubt as to who should write the check. Thanks to a landmark court case, New Jersey must pay for school construction and renovation in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts — a rarity in the U.S., where districts often must cover their own building costs.

Yet New Jersey has fallen far short of its obligations, spending just $200 million on school construction this year when officials estimate that more than $6 billion is needed. And as Newark asked for dozens of new schools over the past two decades, the state paid for just eight.

As a result, the district patches up antiquated campuses using money that otherwise could buy new books and computers. It is considering issuing up to $1 billion in bonds to fund further repairs. And as enrollment grows, the district has had to lease former Catholic schools, offices, and even a hospital to create more classroom space.

Newark shouldn’t have to do this, said David Sciarra, executive director of the Newark-based Education Law Center. The center launched a legal campaign 40 years ago that led to historic court rulings ordering New Jersey to ensure that children in poor communities have access to well-funded schools in up-to-date buildings.

“The state is on the hook for this 100%,” Sciarra said, and yet thousands of students in Newark and other urban districts continue to learn in schools that are “unsafe, overcrowded, or inadequate.”

“How long are these kids going to wait?” he asked.

Urgently needed repairs

Newark’s school buildings have been falling apart for decades.

In the winter of 1999, icicles formed on a high school’s walls after its heating system broke.

In 2010, a chunk of bricks fell from a school building onto its front walkway just days before first lady Michelle Obama visited.

In 2018, four classroom ceilings collapsed at Lafayette Street School, which was built in 1848 — 13 years before the Civil War.

And a 2019 survey of the district’s buildings found damaged roofs and bathrooms with missing sinks and toilets.

“There were some conditions that I just shook my head and said, ‘I would never send my child to one of these schools,’” said Steve Morlino, the district’s recently retired facilities director, on a podcast last month about New Jersey legal issues. “Therefore, why are they in this condition for other kids?”

In recent years, Morlino oversaw extensive repair work ordered by Superintendent Roger León.

Yet huge troubles remain. At Camden Street School, sewage problems cause frequent flooding on the ground floor, and mice are common in classrooms, said a staff member, who requested anonymity to speak freely about building conditions. And like many other Newark schools, the building lacks air conditioning.

“The third floor felt like an oven today,” the staffer said last week when outside temperatures exceeded 90 degrees.

So once again, Newark has cataloged the repairs that its schools desperately need.

Earlier this year, Newark submitted to the state a new long-range facilities plan, which New Jersey school districts must complete every five years. The plan includes proposed renovations at each of its 65 schools, including new boilers, HVAC systems, windows, roofs, doors, and gyms.

In the meantime, poor ventilation, missing A/C, and outdated heating systems make learning difficult for students, especially the many in Newark who suffer from asthma, said Kim Gaddy, an environmental activist and former Newark school board member.

“If you have a coat on in your classroom, how are you expected to perform to the best of your ability?” Gaddy said. “It makes students think that we don’t value their education — that we don’t value them.”

Newark also wants to rebuild and reopen the former Dayton Street School.

Room to grow

Since becoming superintendent in 2018, León has been on a quest to grow the district.

He has already opened four new high schools and three elementary schools, with plans to launch several more. But aside from a new building whose construction began before his tenure, León has had to put the new schools on existing campuses or lease vacant properties.

Now the district says it needs more space.

The facilities plan calls for 10 newly constructed buildings. Three would house existing schools — Abington Avenue, Ann Street, and East Ward — that have outgrown their current buildings, and one would feature a new school, also in the crowded East Ward.

The other six buildings would house schools to replace ones that Newark’s former state-appointed superintendent, Cami Anderson, decided to close because of low enrollment and poor performance.

The district hopes to replace the former Boylan Street School.

It’s clear the district needs new buildings. But it will have to prove there is demand for so many new schools.

The district’s plan projects that enrollment will grow by about 1,250 students over four school years, reaching 37,621 by 2023-24. But a state report this April said Newark only needs classroom space for an additional 455 students.

Newark officials argue that the growth would be greater if the district had new buildings, which could attract families who might otherwise choose charter or private schools. And as more people move to Newark, the new schools could convince them to stay, Mayor Ras Baraka said last week at the groundbreaking for a new high school the district will open in a leased building.

“People are coming back home,” he said. “They believe in Newark Public Schools, and we’ve got to grow our school system so they stay in Newark Public Schools.”

Schools deferred

Once upon a time, it looked as if Newark’s wish for new, state-funded schools might be granted.

In 1998, and again in 2000, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the state is obligated to pay the full cost of school construction and repairs in high-poverty districts. In response, the state created the Schools Construction Corporation, and the legislature allocated nearly $9 billion for the first round of construction in the 31 neediest districts, including Newark.

In 2001, Newark submitted a plan, which the state approved, calling for 43 new school buildings and 29 renovations at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion. The newly established construction agency began acquiring property for more than 30 of the proposed buildings, and selected architects to draw up blueprints.

But within a year, the construction corporation had blown through all of its funding. A few years later, the state dissolved the agency, citing waste and mismanagement. Newark would have to wait.

In 2007, the state replaced the agency with the Schools Development Authority, or SDA. It eventually built or upgraded more than 850 schools statewide. But like its predecessor, the SDA was accused of mismanagement and ran out of money with many projects left on its docket.

The SDA did make progress in Newark, where it spent more than $760 million on school repairs and eight new buildings. Yet the construction never matched the need.

After requesting 39 new schools in 2005, the district scaled down its request in 2014 to just 15 new buildings. None of them materialized.

One of Newark’s earliest requests was for a new West Side High School. Its building, which opened in 1926, had become overcrowded and plagued by plumbing problems and power outages. In 2009, the SDA made plans for a new $142 million campus. In preparation, the agency bought adjacent property, relocated families from the site, and presented designs to the community.

But after repeated delays, the SDA abandoned those plans with a whimper. In 2017, it sold the property it had acquired for the campus for $1.

“After spending all that money, buying all those homes, displacing all those families, you still don’t have a school at that site,” Morlino said on the podcast.

Fifteenth Avenue School would be rebuild under Newark’s plan.

Will anything change?

With every year of stalled construction, Newark’s needs grow more acute.

In 2016, David Daughety was a freshman at Arts High School. That year, Newark sent the state a list of building conditions that could cause “imminent peril to the health and safety of students and staff.” At Arts High, the conditions included falling pieces of roofing, broken windows, and failed HVAC systems. The district asked for $4.9 million to make repairs at the school.

Meanwhile, Daughety and his classmates sat in classrooms that could be boiling hot or freezing cold, and watched water drip from ceilings into strategically placed trash cans.

“For some reason, that was normalized,” he said.

The state approved just 11 of the more than 150 renovation projects that Newark requested in 2016. Arts High School didn’t make the list.

Six years later, Daughety is finishing his sophomore year of college and Newark has submitted yet another wishlist of school renovations. The cost to repair Arts High has climbed to $7.8 million.

“It sends a message,” Daughety said, “that the state doesn’t really care about inner-city kids.”

This year’s state budget includes $75 million for school repairs, with $6.5 million going to Newark, in addition to the $200 million earmarked for school construction statewide.

Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed allocating another $350 million for school construction in the budget for next fiscal year, and wants to use $150 million in previously borrowed funds for additional capital projects.

But at a legislative hearing in April, Schools Development Authority CEO Manual Da Silva estimated that it would cost roughly $5 billion to replace 50 aging schools the agency has identified across the state, and another $1.5 billion to build schools in overcrowded districts.

The SDA says Newark needs two new schools to address overcrowding — but the agency doesn’t have the money to build them.

Last year, the Education Law Center returned to court seeking to compel the state to pay for those projects and the other schools that poor districts need. A judge is working to determine how much that would cost.

Meanwhile, Newark is trying to fund whatever school improvements it can.

It has spent much of its federal COVID relief money on improved ventilation and other building upgrades, and plans to use nearly $86 million of its most recent round of federal aid on building projects.

Newark also has taken advantage of a state program that allows districts to finance repairs through anticipated energy reductions. Officials say the $120 million in expected energy savings will fund upgrades to 60 buildings, including new boilers, solar panels, roofs, and insulation.

The district also tapped into $30 million that the city raised by issuing bonds to help cover school renovations. But that’s far short of the $1 billion in bond money that León said last year the district might need for repairs.

And while the state has approved Newark’s building plan, that doesn’t guarantee funding. The SDA considers each proposed project individually.

“Unless the governor and the legislature step up and start putting serious money into these projects,” said Sciarra of the Education Law Center, “they’ll essentially remain proposals on paper.”

Now at Rutgers University-Newark, Daughety can only imagine what would happen if every Newark student was able to walk into a state-of-the-art school building.

Improved attendance. Better grades. Brighter moods. Most importantly, Daughety said, the sparkling hallways and modern classrooms would signal to Newark’s young people that they matter.

“When you can give that to students,” he said, “that’s when change starts to happen.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Patrick at pwall@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis’ Kingsbury High School community steps up call for changes

2022-05-25T11:00:00+00:00

Rebekah Kail has two children at Kingsbury High School whom Memphis-Shelby County Schools classifies as “exceptional” students.

Her daughter, a ninth-grader, is part of CLUE, a program for academically gifted students provided through the district’s department for exceptional children and health services. Her older son, an 11th-grader who is developmentally delayed, receives special education services from the same department.

And as far as she’s concerned, neither of them is getting the quality of education they deserve.

She was among more than 25 parents, students, teachers, neighborhood residents, and community activists who gathered Monday night at Su Casa Ministries to voice their concerns about Kingsbury and discuss how to save their neighborhood school.

Zyanya Cruz, who has been organizing the gatherings as part of an effort to create a Kingsbury parent-teacher-student association, said Monday’s meeting was about giving space for students, parents, teachers, and community members to air their frustrations with Kingsbury, and less focused on solutions. But she said she is encouraged by the group’s progress.

“We’re going to be here and we’re not going to let up,” said Cruz, an organizer with the Center for Transforming Communities. “Even though the school year is ending, we’re still going to keep working. We want to get these things changed and we want students to feel comfortable and families to feel respected.”

Since MSCS officials announced in late March that all Kingsbury teachers must reapply for their jobs in order to return next school year, community members have become more vocal about a wide range of concerns with Kingsbury: from the condition and cleanliness of the building and an increased police presence on school grounds, to the unmet needs of the schools’ growing population of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

At an earlier meeting, many were skeptical that the so-called fresh start at the school would help address their concerns.

At this week’s meeting, much of the discussion centered on students’ experiences — and the complaints kept mounting. Several students described feeling as though they’re treated like animals and fed like prisoners.

Most of the participants asked to remain anonymous for fear of punishment for speaking out against administrators and teachers, but Kail was one unwavering voice in the crowd.

“These are our kids,” Kail said, her voice strained as she glanced down at her daughter, Taylor Parsons, seated next to her. “This is my daughter — I want her to have a good life. I don’t want her to have to be in this neighborhood forever. … We have to address these barriers to our children’s learning.”

Every day, one student said, it seems there are new guards and police officers, armed and in uniform, who make them feel intimidated.

One student described feeling fearful every day because she knows some of her peers bring weapons to school, despite the metal detectors at the entrance.

Students also lamented the condition of the bathrooms: toilet paper littering the floors, and clogged toilets overflowing onto them. They described students “doing their business” on the floor, or sticking feminine hygiene products to the bathroom walls when garbage cans are full.

Multiple students complained of inedible lunches, describing room-temperature milk, food that is still frozen, and fruit that is often soggy, unripe, or overripe. One student estimated she spends $70 or more every week ordering lunch to school through DoorDash. Others described going hungry all day.

At the root of all those issues is an overarching lack of respect for students, said Parsons, the ninth-grader.

Her mother, Kail, echoed the concerns about the bathrooms and lunch food, but said she is most alarmed by the effect those small, seemingly easy-to-fix problems have on student learning.

“If you have to pee all day, you are not going to learn why the War of 1812 was fought. I mean, I’m just saying, I wouldn’t learn it,” she said. “If I was hungry, I would not be focused on whatever you’ve got going on in math class. I’d be like, ‘You guys got some chicken nuggets back there?’”

“The ultimate goal has to be their education,” she said. “To do that, they have to be able to eat. They have to be able to use the bathroom.”

MSCS officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment for this story. In a previous interview with Chalkbeat, Superintendent Joris Ray said that having teachers at Kingsbury, as well as at Hamilton High School and Airways Achievement Academy, reapply for their jobs is part of an ongoing district-wide staff restructuring to improve school climate and student performance.

“I think the fresh start is going to make the schools better and the students are definitely going to benefit,” Ray said.

But at Monday’s meeting, students, parents, and community members said a district-led purge of teachers would not solve the problems they’re most concerned about.

Maria Oceja, the guardian of a sibling in ninth grade at Kingsbury, said the problems spotlighted at Kingsbury right now are representative of longstanding issues across the district, especially in low-income communities. Oceja said she encountered the same challenges when she attended Craigmont High, and recalls feeling unprepared for college.

Oceja said she’s tired of seeing the same patterns repeat.

“Our students are intelligent. Our students have so much potential and so much talent and it’s not being nurtured,” Oceja said.

“We’re creating a workforce of disempowered people,” she said, noting the city’s disproportionate number of warehouse jobs. “They want to keep us here.”

Oceja and several other guardians, parents, students, community members, and activists in attendance said they nonetheless left with hope that change will come if they keep up their fight against decades of disinvestment in the school and neighborhood.

Oceja closed the meeting by leading a bilingual chant: “Sí, se puede” (Yes, we can) and “I believe that we will win.”

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Electores de Colorado votarán por un programa de comidas escolares gratis

2022-05-24T19:00:00+00:00

A pesar de los atrasos en la cadena de suministro y falta de personal, muchas escuelas de Colorado han estado sirviendo más comidas que nunca, gracias a los vales federales relacionados con la pandemia que hicieron que las comidas fueran gratis para todos los estudiantes.

Durante ese tiempo, muchos distritos escolares reportaron que más estudiantes estaban comiendo al mediodía, en ocasiones hasta un 40% más que antes de la pandemia.

“Les ha aliviado mucho estrés a las familias en términos de cómo cubrir sus costos para subsistir”, dijo Ashley Wheeland, directora de políticas de Hunger Free Colorado. “Vimos que podíamos cubrir esa necesidad por ellos y dejar que se enfocaran en otras cuentas”.

Los vales federales vencerán este verano y eso dará final al programa. Los electores de Colorado decidirán en noviembre si continuar el beneficio y cubrir el costo de las comidas para todos los estudiantes.

Los legisladores han enviado una medida a las urnas que traería $101 millones adicionales al año limitando las deducciones fiscales de las personas con ingresos altos. Además, las escuelas pueden reclamar más fondos federales participando en el programa de elegibilidad comunitaria. Los distritos escolares podrían usar la elegibilidad para programas como Medicaid y cupones de alimentos para contar la cantidad de niños en pobreza y cubrir más comidas, en vez de depender de que las familias llenen solicitudes para recibir almuerzos subsidiados.

Además de cubrir los costos de las comidas escolares, los distritos escolares participantes también podrían obtener dinero para comprar alimentos saludables locales, aumentar los salarios de los trabajadores del comedor, actualizar el equipo y capacitar al personal para que prepare alimentos saludables.

La propuesta crearía el programa Healthy School Meals for All (Comidas escolares saludables para todos).

El proyecto de ley 1414 fue aprobado por la legislatura de Colorado con el apoyo de ambos partidos, a pesar que muchos republicanos votaron que no. Al lograr que la medida sea incluida en la votación, los que la apoyan ahorrarán el tiempo y dinero que de otro modo tendrían que dedicar para conseguir firmas.

Sin embargo, habrá un año de espera para que el programa empiece. Las escuelas no tendrán acceso a dinero adicional para el año escolar 2022-23, y muchos padres tendrán que pagar por los almuerzos. Los demócratas que apoyan la medida habían respaldado un proyecto de ley diferente originalmente que iba a usar fondos estatales para cubrir esa brecha, pero ese proyecto no obtuvo el apoyo necesario debido a su alto costo.

“La comida es una herramienta importante del aprendizaje”, dijo Wheeland. “Ningún niño debe sentir hambre mientras pasa el día. Para algunos, esta podría ser la única comida nutritiva que comen en todo el día”.

Jasmín Ramírez, miembro de la junta escolar en el distrito Roaring Fork, les dijo a los legisladores que muchas familias inmigrantes en su comunidad batallan para alimentar a sus hijos aun teniendo múltiples empleos en los resorts cercanos. Pero sienten temor de llenar formularios con información personal.

Los registros oficiales del distrito muestran que un 37% de sus 5,100 estudiantes califican para almuerzos subsidiados, pero Ramírez dijo que esa cifra es mayor, notando que muchas familias perdieron sus empleos y agotaron sus ahorros cuando el turismo se detuvo.

Los padres y estudiantes les dijeron a los legisladores que les avergüenza ser conocidos como un “niño que come gratis”. María Judith Álvarez dijo que su hijo no quiere ir a la cafetería después de haber regresado a la casa con una marca en la mano por no pagar la cuenta del comedor.

Daniel Cieraszynski, estudiante de la Universidad de Denver, recuerda haber dependido de comidas subsidiadas en sexto grado después de que su padre perdiera el empleo y la familia tuviera que subsistir con los ingresos de su madre como auxiliar de la escuela.

“No quería que nadie supiera, y me avergonzaba cuando la gente lo descubría”, dijo.

Los que apoyan el programa dijeron que cubrir el costo de las comidas de todos los estudiantes serviría para eliminar ese estigma.

Pero algunos republicanos cuestionaron por qué el público debe pagar por ese costo. Varios legisladores dijeron: “La comida gratis no existe.”

“Yo quiero volver a como era cuando yo era niño”, dijo el Representante Richard Holtorf, republicano de Akron. “Todos traíamos almuerzo en una bolsa o lonchera. Mamá nos preparaba algo de comer. ¿Alguien me puede explicar qué pasó con eso?”

Dan Sharp, director de servicios de comida del distrito Mesa Valley 51 en el oeste de Colorado, señaló que las familias siempre han tenido dificultades. El Congreso estableció el primer programa de comidas escolares en 1946 después de que el Ejército descubriera que muchos varones llamados a reportarse no cumplían los requisitos de servicio debido a malnutrición cuando eran niños.

Erica Meltzer, Jefe de la Oficina, cubre temas de política educativa y supervisa la cobertura sobre educación de Chalkbeat Colorado. Comunícate con Erica escribiendo a emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Colorado voters to decide on free school lunch expansion

2022-05-11T06:10:51+00:00

Colorado voters will decide this November whether to cover the cost of school meals for all students.

All Colorado students have had access to free lunch over the last two years thanks to pandemic-related federal waivers that are set to expire this summer. During that time, many school districts reported more students eating lunch, sometimes as many as 40% more than in pre-pandemic times.

Lawmakers have sent a measure to the voters that would bring in an additional $101 million a year by limiting tax deductions for high-income earners. Those new state funds would supplement additional federal dollars that schools can claim by participating in the community eligibility program. Rather than relying on families filling out applications for subsidized lunches, school districts could use eligibility for programs like Medicaid and food stamps to count children in poverty and get more meals covered.

In addition to covering the costs of school meals, participating school districts could also get money to buy healthy local foods, raise wages for food service workers, upgrade equipment, and train workers to prepare healthy meals.

The proposal would create the Healthy School Meals for All program. House Bill 1414 passed both chambers with bipartisan support, though many Republicans voted no. By getting lawmakers to place the measure on the ballot, supporters save time and money they would have spent gathering signatures.

However, there would be a gap year before the program starts. Schools wouldn’t have access to any extra money for the 2022-23 school year. The Democratic sponsors of the measure had originally backed a bill that would have used state money to fill in that gap, but it stalled due to concerns about ongoing costs.

Backers of the initiative, such as Hunger Free Colorado, say offering free lunch to all students reduces stigma and shame and encourages participation, while relieving cash-strapped families of one more expense.

Some Republican lawmakers objected to asking a small percentage of taxpayers to pay for something that families should be providing and that many parents can afford.

The proposal would limit state income tax deductions for taxpayers earning $300,000 or more. Individuals would be limited to $12,000 and joint filers to $16,000.

The measure does not require the governor’s signature to appear on the ballot. The referred measure only requires a simple majority to become law.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Free school lunch expansion could be decided by Colorado voters

2022-05-06T00:28:49+00:00

Despite supply chain backups and staffing shortages, many Colorado schools have been serving more meals than ever, thanks to pandemic-related federal waivers that made school lunches free to all students.

“It’s taken a lot of stress off our families in terms of covering their living costs,” said Ashley Wheeland, policy director for Hunger Free Colorado. “We saw we could take that need off them and let them focus on their other bills.”

Now advocates are asking lawmakers to put a free school meals proposal on the November ballot to continue that benefit.

Those federal waivers are set to expire this summer, ending free lunches for thousands of students. A proposal to fill the gap with a combination of state and federal funds stalled in the state Senate, in part due to the high cost.

A bill to refer a measure to voters has the same Democratic sponsors as the stalled Senate bill: state Reps. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez of Denver and Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City and state Sens. Rhonda Fields of Aurora and Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood.

By using what’s known as community eligibility, using eligibility for programs like Medicaid and food stamps to count children in poverty, rather than relying on families filling out applications for subsidized lunches, Colorado school districts could get the federal government to cover more meals for more students.

And by eliminating certain tax deductions for high-income filers — individuals earning more than $300,000 and couples earning more than $600,000 — the proposal would bring in an estimated $100 million a year in new state money to cover the rest of the cost, according to a fiscal analysis.

The combined revenue sources would allow participating school districts to serve meals to all students at no cost to their families. The proposal also would provide funds to buy healthy local foods, raise wages for food service workers, upgrade equipment, and train workers to prepare healthy meals, supporters said.

“Food is an important tool to learn,” Wheeland said. “No kid should be hungry while they try to get through the day. For some kids, this might be the only nutritious meal they have all day.”

The bill to place the Healthy School Meals for All initiative on the November ballot is headed to the House floor after advancing through several committees on partyline votes. There’s less than a week to get the bill through the legislature, but if lawmakers refer the measure to voters, advocates will get a big head start compared with gathering signatures, the other option.

Jasmin Ramirez, a school board member in the Roaring Fork district, told lawmakers many immigrant families in her community struggle to feed their children, despite working multiple jobs in nearby resort communities, but feel scared to fill out forms with personal information.

The district’s official records show 37% of its 5,100 students qualifying for subsidized lunches, but Ramirez said that’s an undercount, noting that many families lost jobs and burned through savings when tourism dried up.

During the last two school years, when meals have been covered, many Colorado districts report serving meals to 20% to 40% more students than before the pandemic, speaking to a greater need than was reflected in applications for free- and reduced-price lunches.

Parents and students told stories of being ashamed to be known as a “free lunch kid.” Maria Judith Alvarez said her son still avoids the cafeteria years after being sent home with a stamp on his hand for unpaid lunch debt.

Daniel Cieraszynski, a University of Denver student, recalled relying on subsidized meals in sixth grade after his father was laid off and the family had to get by on his mother’s wages as a classroom aide.

“I didn’t want anyone to know, and I felt ashamed when people found out,” he said.

Backers said covering the costs of meals for all students would remove that stigma.

But Republicans on the committee questioned why the public should carry that cost, with several saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

“I want to go back to what used to be when I was a kid,” said state Rep. Richard Holtorf, an Akron Republican. “People brought a sack lunch or a lunch box. Mom would pack a meal. Can you explain to me what happened with that?”

Dan Sharp, food services director for the Mesa Valley 51 district in western Colorado, noted that families have always struggled. Congress enacted the first school lunch program in 1946 after the Army found many draftees unfit to serve due to childhood malnutrition.

Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis board members push back on proposed $34M custodial contract

2022-04-20T18:20:04+00:00

A proposed custodial services contract for Memphis-Shelby County Schools has reignited concerns about the cleanliness of school buildings and the debate about whether the district should continue outsourcing building maintenance.

The four-year contract would award $34.4 million, according to board documents, to ServiceMaster Clean, a commercial cleaning company that has two franchises currently serving the district, along with SKB Facilities & Maintenance.

MSCS officials say that the multi-year contract with ServiceMaster Clean would offer “some continuity and stability” going forward, and that relying on a sole vendor, rather than several as in years past, could improve communication between the district and its cleaning service.

Administrators also emphasized the proposed 30% increase from the nearly $26 million provided in the current contract would increase the base pay rate for employees to $15 per hour from $10. The higher wage, they said, would help prevent the high turnover seen among custodial staff in recent years and lead to cleaner schools.

But during a school board work session Tuesday and a committee meeting last week, board members questioned why administrators would recommend they continue working with any ServiceMaster operation when many in the community have expressed frustration with school buildings not being properly cleaned and employees not being paid a living wage.

“It all boils down to a standard,” board member Joyce Dorse Coleman said during the committee meeting last week. “So we’re saying that our children do not deserve the highest possible standard? … We’re going back to the drawing board and starting over because our children, my children, my son’s children deserve the best.”

The district should do more than “recommend” their custodial company pay their employees a living wage, she said.

Board Vice Chair Althea Greene — who represents parts of North Memphis and Binghampton — said she almost started crying during a recent Zoom call when she heard concerns from students about the cleanliness of school buildings. Afterwards, Greene decided to visit a few schools herself, and said she was disturbed by what she found.

At 9 a.m. the Monday after spring break, Greene said, classrooms and bathrooms at one school had clearly not been cleaned and there was no hand sanitizer or paper towels. At another school the following morning, Greene said she found a similar situation: She moved a garbage can and found ants and Goldfish crackers all over the floor.

“We could all probably just start crying talking about what we have witnessed personally in buildings, but we’re going to save our tears and put them in a bucket for you so you can go back and bring someone else,” Greene told administrators at the committee meeting. “This is unacceptable. How dare we want to give anybody four years? A year is enough.”

Board member Miska Clay Bibbs aired similar concerns last week, asking administrators to share the scorecards they used to pick ServiceMaster Clean over six other bidders and questioning whether it was time to bring custodial services back in house.

The board will discuss the contract again at its April 26 business meeting.

Worries about school building cleanliness are nothing new: Soon after Superintendent Joris Ray took the helm of MSCS in 2019, he put stiffer penalties and accountability measures in contracts with ServiceMaster and Aramark, a company the district later cut ties with. Then, when the pandemic started the following spring, school staff again sounded the alarm on classroom cleanliness.

The board first outsourced custodial services nearly a decade ago to cut costs during the merger of Memphis City Schools with suburban Shelby County Schools. The move was one of the most intensely debated issues in the merger, with former school board member Sara Lewis lambasting the outsourcing plan saying, “My soul won’t allow me to do this.”

Outsourcing janitorial services saved the district about $12 million at the time, but it resulted in pay cuts for Memphis City Schools’ custodial employees.

Before outsourcing, the average pay for the unionized janitorial staff was $10-$12 an hour and included retirement benefits. After the merger, the promised hourly wage was $9.50, according to a November 2013 article in The Commercial Appeal. Some employees said at the time that the company didn’t keep that promise and that they were getting just $9 an hour.

Nine years later, the starting wage is $10 an hour.

After hearing board members’ concerns last week, Ray said he directed MSCS Chief Financial Officer Toni Williams to look into the costs of bringing the services back in house. She found it would cost the district about $10.2 million more than the proposed $34.4 million contract.

Although there are benefits to the district employing its own custodial staff — like having more direct say over quality of service and improving morale and pride — Genard Phillips, chief of business operations, said the district cannot guarantee it could find enough employees amid ongoing worker shortages across the country.

And overall, Phillips said, district cleaning scores this year showed conditions were better at the schools served by the two ServiceMaster franchises — ServiceMaster by Stratos based in Downtown Memphis and ServiceMaster Facilities Maintenance in Southeast Memphis — compared with SKB. They also found a direct correlation between cleaning performance and staffing levels, Phillips said.

The recommended minimum wage increase from $10 to $15 an hour, he said, will hopefully drive down high turnover rates, attract more people to the jobs, and improve pride and, in turn, quality.

Ray said Tuesday that he understands board members’ concerns and has himself found the quality of custodial services to be “spotty” from school to school.

But he said he doesn’t think MSCS is in a position to incur the extra expense of an in-house custodial staff amid declining enrollment.

“I prefer it to be in-house. I really would prefer it. But we just can’t afford it,” Ray said. “You know, I want a Bentley; I want a driver. I can’t afford it.”

Samantha West is a reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee, where she covers K-12 education in Memphis. Connect with Samantha at swest@chalkbeat.org.

Free school meals for all? Colorado lawmakers want to make that a reality

2022-03-03T02:00:52+00:00

Amid a host of hardships, the pandemic brought a silver lining to Colorado schools: All students could eat lunch for free, with no stigma and no paperwork.

A broad coalition of nutritionists and farmers, parents and teachers wants to see Colorado continue this benefit into the future.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our kids to continue to get access to meals and not have to worry about whether or not their families can afford it or whether or not their families have applied for assistance,” said Taylor Hubbard, an elementary parent from Bellvue in northern Colorado. “It’s just one less worry.”

But Colorado lawmakers of both parties have concerns about the cost of the proposal — an estimated $118 million a year — when the state has many other unmet education needs. After more than two hours of testimony Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee delayed a vote on Senate Bill 87 so the sponsors can look for ways to lower the cost.

Bill sponsor state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, said she’s confident Colorado lawmakers can prioritize the money to feed many more children than it did before the pandemic. But she and fellow bill sponsors plan to introduce amendments that would lower the cost, possibly excluding some districts with a greater number of higher-income families.

The bill is also sponsored by state Sen. Rhonda Fields of Aurora and state Reps. Serena Gonzalez-Guitierrez of Denver and Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City.

Even without the amendment, Pettersen estimates the cost to the state could be about half of the $118 million state analysts expect. She said it’s unclear whether every district or school would participate in the program and the federal government should cover some of the expenses.

Universal free lunch is a longtime goal of many children’s advocates, who see benefits such as ensuring students can focus on school and not hunger, eliminating the stigma of free lunch, and helping families who struggle to put food on the table. They say that can improve classroom behavior and increase student learning.

Colorado already picks up the extra cost of reduced price meals, making them free to families, but this proposal would go much further.

The Senate bill seeks to feed all students, regardless of if they qualify for subsidized lunch. The bill would reimburse schools for meals for those students who don’t qualify for the federal meal program.

The program would start in the 2023-24 school year, assuming Colorado is accepted into a federal pilot program to automatically provide free school meals to children who qualify for Medicaid, even if their parents don’t fill out paperwork for the existing school lunch program.

Grants would allow participating districts to feed students products grown, raised, or processed in Colorado and to raise pay for food service workers. Schools would also need to report to the state education department how many students participate and administrators would need to apply for federal reimbursements to help offset the cost to the state.

During the committee meeting, state Sen. Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said he worried about the high cost and about students from high-income backgrounds using a program they don’t need.

“I’d rather spend that on academic opportunities for children,” Lundeen said.

About 40 people testified on Wednesday in support of the bill.

Leslie Colwell, Colorado Children’s Campaign vice president, said the nonprofit group found on average 10% of households reported not having enough to eat from late April 2020 to March 2021. And she said the income thresholds for students to receive subsidized school meals net only those from the lowest-income families.

During the pandemic, once campuses reopened, schools reported participation in the federal free lunch program increased 20% to 40% from pre-pandemic times.

Ashley Wheeland, Hunger Free Colorado public policy director, said the organization estimates the program would save families about $78 million in food expenses.

“We believe this is a cost that we can as a state afford and will have such important outcomes for children,” Wheeland said. “It’s really an investment in education because kids learn better when they’re fed.”

Legacy High School student Anoushka Jani told legislators she’s seen fellow students not eat all day because they don’t have what they need. She said without students getting food, “they can’t focus on their education.”

Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.

High lead levels in many drinking water outlets in Philly school buildings, report finds

2022-02-16T23:53:43+00:00

A sampling of Philadelphia public schools found that nearly all buildings tested had lead in at least some of their drinking water, a result that represents just the “tip of the iceberg,” according to two environmental groups and the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality.

In a new report, the groups, PennPIRG Education Fund and the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, said that 98% of schools tested had at least one outlet with tainted water, and 61% of the 1,932 outlets tested had lead levels that exceeded city requirements.

Lead ingestion, through water or paint chips, can stunt the intellectual growth of children.

School district officials immediately disputed the findings, which were based on self-reported samples from 65 of more than 200 district buildings.

“The data and report issued today by PennPIRG is not an accurate reflection of the water quality that students and staff in our District are accessing each and every day,” district spokesperson Monica Lewis said in a statement.

Lewis said that water safety is regulated by the city and that the district launched a safe water testing program in 2016. The district regularly tests water quality and shuts down stations where lead contamination exceeds 10 parts per billion, or ppb, her statement said.

According to the PennPIRG report, the highest lead reading was at an outlet in Duckrey Elementary School in North Philadelphia – 8768 ppb. Other schools with problems include Longstreth Elementary School, where 49 out of 56 outlets showed high lead levels. At two elementary schools, Bethune and Moffet, 90% of the outlets had high contamination rates.

Along with the report, the groups created an interactive web page where parents and community members can find test results for their schools.

“Schools should be safe places where our kids go to learn, achieve, and grow up to be productive citizens in society,” said PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center executive director David Masur. “Instead, our study shows the pervasive threat of lead in drinking water faces Philadelphia kids when they enter our school buildings. It’s time for district officials to address this threat once and for all.”

The report said that the district could fix the problem using 1% of the money it received from the American Rescue Plan.

All 269 district-owned buildings were sampled once through 2017, and all water outlets that did not meet city standards were turned off, Lewis said in her statement A second cycle of sampling began in April 2019, but was paused when buildings were closed for more than a year due to the pandemic. Testing resumed in April 2021, when some buildings started to reopen, and a five-year cycle to inspect outlets in all buildings is still underway.

The district’s statement said that more than 1,320 hydration stations have been installed so far, with a goal of having one for each 100 students, per floor.

“These purified drinking sources are tested and have consistently shown lead levels which are safer than that required by city regulations,” the statement said.

“The District has had prior conversations with PennPIRG to address their concerns, and is deeply disappointed by their mischaracterization of water quality in our District buildings.”

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org

Schools are using COVID relief for building upgrades that will take years

2022-02-15T12:00:00+00:00

School districts across the U.S. are renovating their buildings and upgrading dilapidated ventilation systems with the help of $190 billion of federal COVID relief.

But these improvements will take time, and some won’t be completed for years after the pandemic first disrupted schooling.

The improvements have gotten the blessing of the U.S. Department of Education, which has encouraged ventilation upgrades. And there’s good evidence that such projects will benefit students: Research has found a direct link between air quality and student success, and students in classrooms that aren’t air conditioned tend to learn less on hot days.

Still, the plans reveal an awkward reality: With limited options for spending a big, one-time chunk of money, school districts are using part of it for expensive facilities projects, which may have only a tenuous connection to the pandemic and will take years to complete.

Now, some school leaders want more time. The national school superintendents’ association and other groups recently asked the U.S. Department of Education for an extra two years to spend the money so construction projects can be planned and completed.

“I don’t necessarily think that facilities spending seems to be a bad way to spend it,” said American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Nat Malkus, who recently analyzed COVID relief dollars for schools. But, he added, “It’s certainly not under the original intent of the bill.”

Schools in White Plains, New York plan to spend $6.9 million in federal funds on building renovations. Those include a district-wide upgrade of its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, which will bring air conditioning to many classrooms for the first time. The building improvements will constitute the majority of the district’s $9.8 million from the American Rescue Plan, the largest and most recent federal aid package.

“We would never have been able to accomplish this type of a project without a major bond and an impact to the taxpayer,” district superintendent Joseph Ricca said. “The benefits to the children and to the community are huge and they’re going to be lasting.”

The renovations should be completed in two years, he said. “While it may not be directly related to COVID — hopefully this particular pandemic is in our rearview mirror at that time — it does attend to the needs of our school facilities,” Ricca said.

Other districts are making similar plans. An analysis of more than 2,700 districts’ plans found that more than half planned to improve ventilation, which includes buying air cleaning devices or renovating HVAC systems. A trade magazine for HVAC professionals recently noted a burst in schools upgrading ventilation. Schools are also spending on other facilities improvements, too, including expanding or creating outdoor classrooms.

In Louisiana, districts have budgeted $274 million for building repairs and air quality improvements, but less than $6 million has been spent to date, suggesting the money will be used for lengthy projects.

Experts say improving ventilation is a good way to reduce the spread of COVID in indoor settings, and doing so is explicitly allowed under the two most recent federal aid packages for schools.

It’s not clear, though, that upgrades that will take years meet the law’s requirements that they are responsive to COVID. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends quicker fixes like purchasing portable air filters.

It’s up to states to decide whether districts’ plans get a green light, and many have already gotten one, including White Plains. The U.S. Department of Education has also issued guidance indicating that it views building upgrades as an acceptable use of funds. One guidance document notes that schools can use the money to “emerge stronger post-pandemic,” including by “maintaining healthy facilities.”

“Many communities are using these funds to make critical upgrades to schools that support health and safety, such as improving ventilation systems,” department spokesperson Luke Jackson said in an email.

The department does discourage districts from using the money for new construction, which appears to be far less common than upgrading existing facilities.

Malkus’ analysis for AEI, a conservative think tank, estimated that a large share of federal relief aid will likely be spent on needs not directly connected to COVID. But he’s not convinced that districts are making bad decisions by spending on facilities.

“Given the constraints they’re facing, this could be a more prudent use of funds than many others,” he said.

Indeed, the flurry of HVAC upgrades reflect a real need. A 2020 federal Government Accountability Office report estimated that one in three American school buildings need to upgrade or replace their ventilation systems. The infrastructure bill that was recently signed into law did not include any funding for school buildings.

A well-functioning HVAC system maintains healthy air circulation in a building, filters out pollutants, and keeps the temperature comfortable. Harmful chemicals in the air can set students back, but improving air filtration can counteract those effects.

Another reason that many schools are spending on infrastructure is that they only have so many ways to responsibly use one-time money, particularly in high-poverty districts that have received massive sums. If a district goes on a hiring binge or gives big raises, it will face painful layoffs or salary freezes in the years ahead. Construction or renovations, on the other hand, are temporary expenses that could come with a long-term benefit.

A new analysis by the think tank Future-Ed shows that high-poverty school districts are especially likely to budget federal money for improving buildings, perhaps because their existing facilities are worse or because they have more money at their disposal.

“Spending money on some of these critical upgrades makes a whole lot of sense to do with one-time funding,” said Sasha Pudelski, advocacy director of AASA, the superintendents’ association. “For many districts, they’ve had backlogged maintenance for years.”

Matt Barnum is a national reporter covering education policy, politics, and research. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

Denver school bathrooms would always stock free tampons, pads under policy

2022-01-21T17:40:08+00:00

The Denver school board wants to make sure free pads and tampons are available in school bathrooms for years to come. The board is set to cement in policy the district’s practice of stocking K-8, middle, and high school bathrooms with menstrual hygiene products in an effort to ensure that no students have to miss class because they can’t afford them.

“We’re hoping that we’re ending the stigma,” said board Vice President Tay Anderson, “and that future generations will normalize seeing these products across the Denver Public Schools.”

The practice of stocking bathrooms began in earnest a year ago, when secondary students returned to school after nearly a year of remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was spurred by the advocacy of a student at George Washington High School who has since graduated. District officials said they were working to start providing free period products in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit, temporarily putting their efforts on hold.

From November 2020 to January 2021, tampon and pad dispensers were installed in 813 bathrooms in 74 school buildings with the help of volunteers from Home Depot, according to a district presentation. District officials previously said the dispensers were installed in girls’, women’s, and all-gender bathrooms, which each school is required to have.

It cost about $30,000 to buy the dispensers and an initial stock of products, said Trena Marsal, the district’s executive director of facility management. In May, a local donor, the Cushman Neal family, donated 59,000 more pads, tampons, and liners from an eco-friendly company called TOP the organic project. Marsal said the district has not yet had to order more.

Marsal estimates it will cost about $12,000 per month, or $108,000 per school year, to keep the initiative going. Of the 74 participating schools, 39 have had to be restocked in the past year, she said. Marsal has also sent products to a few elementary schools that have asked for them.

The school board could vote as soon as next month on a measure that would direct the superintendent to “regularly maintain and re-supply easily accessible menstrual hygiene products for students in need.” The requirement would officially go into effect next school year, though there’s no indication the district would pause the initiative before then.

“This program is a prime example of student voice,” Marsal said. “A student is who brought this to us, who emphasized the need for the program, and the district listened.”

How students at this rural Colorado charter school got lunch

2022-01-11T23:31:30+00:00

It’s hard to think positively about the pandemic, but for a tiny charter school in the foothills of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo mountains, COVID helped spark a big change.

There’s now a school lunch program that serves about three-quarters of the school’s 80 students. Sometimes, even more on pizza days.

Last August’s lunch launch at Crestone Charter School came about with the help of COVID-era relief funds and close cooperation from the local school district in nearby Moffat. Staff there facilitate the lunch program, cook the daily meals, and transport the food 17 miles to the charter school in a specially equipped Ford Econoline van.

Christina Lakish, who has a second-grader and a fourth-grader at the charter school, said the lunch program has been a huge benefit to her family. She estimates it saves her $100 a month — money she’s been able to put into items like better winter boots for her kids.

Lakish’s 10-year-old son, a picky eater, wasn’t an instant convert to school meals after years of mom-packed lunches. It took a sit-down conversation about inflation and rising food costs to get him on board.

“I explained to him everything costs more money right now and I’m not making more money so we’re all taking hits for the team,” said Lakish, who is an emergency medical technician for the local ambulance service.

Crestone Charter School students go through the lunch line during a special Thanksgiving meal cooked by local district staff and served with help from parents.

The school lunch program is free for all students at the charter school and the district’s single school because a large proportion come from low-income families. Saguache County, where Crestone and Moffat are located, has one of the highest child poverty rates in Colorado.

Thomas Cleary, the charter school’s director and previously a teacher at the school, said for years, the K-12 school chose to focus its spending on field trips and experiential learning opportunities to align with its educational focus. But some students were coming to school hungry.

“They weren’t able to learn and COVID exacerbated that,” he said.

The pandemic represented a “perfect storm in the positive sense,” providing the funding and a growing sense of urgency to feed students, Cleary said. It also came as school leaders were doing more to ensure equity and inclusiveness at the school. They didn’t want the lack of meals to be a deal-breaker for interested families.

Melanie Beckwith, the business manager for the Moffat Consolidated School District, said she’d long wanted to make lunch available to Crestone Charter students, but couldn’t get the finances to work. While the federal government subsidizes the cost of school lunches, districts must manage meal programs carefully because the margins are so thin.

Both Moffat Consolidated and the charter school kicked in part of the money for the new lunch program using federal COVID relief dollars for schools. The district spent about $27,000 to buy food serving and storage equipment, and modify the lunch van so food would stay at the proper temperature during the half-hour drive. The district also pays half the cost of the employee who delivers the lunches to the charter school and brings the dirty dishes back for washing.

The school, which donated an old van from its ski program for food transport, contributed about $35,000 this year — partly for the van driver’s salary and to pay an additional server.

School and district officials credit each other for a flexible partnership that has produced an increasingly popular lunch program. When the program started in August, about 40 students participated. Now, it’s up to 60 or more.

“So far everything’s just gone off just very, very well,” said Beckwith, who eventually hopes to add a breakfast program at the charter school.

Crestone Charter School students enjoy a special Thanksgiving lunch in November.

“When I have gone up there, the kids are so excited, they’re so appreciative, they’re so grateful,” she said. “That alone makes your heart soar.”

Of course, there have been a few bumps in the lunch program process. Once, when the regular van driver was out and Beckwith filled in, she quickly realized that a seat belt wasn’t enough to hold a large insulated container of chicken noodle soup in place on a hilly route with sharp turns. The soup spilled and Beckwith ended up shampooing the van’s seats.

Some charter school parents initially were nervous about their kids eating processed, non-organic, and non-local foods, or high-sugar items. Cleary said the school sends out lunch menus in advance so parents know what will be served, ensures vegetarian options are available, and provides white milk and almond milk, but not chocolate.

District Food Service Director Tina Serna and her team make a lot of the food from scratch, including lasagna, smothered burritos, and chicken stir fry. She also uses greens from the district school’s greenhouse to mix into salad.

Each week, Cleary sends surveys asking parents for input. While some still occasionally express concerns about the school lunches, he said, “In general, the kind of comments I’m getting are, ‘Thanks for feeding my kids.’”

How I Lead: These Detroit school nutrition leaders are passionate about getting kids fed

2022-01-03T20:19:56+00:00

Carl Williams and Skyla Butts aren’t just leaders in the office of school nutrition in the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Sometimes, they are also cooks. Or servers. And when the team needs an extra dose of encouragement, they’re also motivators.

Williams is the executive director of the school nutrition office. Butts is the communications and marketing manager. Recently, they were honored by the School Nutrition Association of Michigan as director of the year and manager of the year, respectively.

It’s been a tough year for school employees tasked with ensuring students get the healthy meals they need. Initiatives aimed at increasing lunch participation and putting chefs in schools to teach students about healthy eating have been stalled. Staffing and supply shortages caused by the pandemic have created immense challenges. Sometimes, it means people in administrative roles must lend a hand.

“Everyone in the central office is out in the field, hands on,” Williams said. “I spent several weeks cooking, cleaning, and serving food in the kitchen, because we were so short-staffed.”

These two, however, are part of a team that has been relentless in making sure students have a quality dining experience. The district recently was featured in a No Kid Hungry video for its efforts during the pandemic to get meals to students, especially those who are medically fragile. In the video, Williams says food service employees were essential before the term “essential workers” was coined to refer to workers whose jobs were vital during the pandemic.

“The pandemic changed how we did things, but it didn’t change what we did,” Williams said.

“When this pandemic happened, it was like, ‘OK, we’ve been doing this, this [has been] a dress rehearsal. We know what to do,” Butts said.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve encountered since the pandemic began, and how are you combating them?

Williams: Our challenges have been in three categories: staffing, logistics or procurement of items … and perception of the program. With staffing, when the pandemic came, we lost some employees who chose to retire and not return. So a third of my staffing is vacant.. We were trying to maintain our standards, meaning, variety of food, variety of options on a daily basis, maintaining the quality of food, maintaining the safety of our food and operations with less employees. {During the pandemic and to this day,} we greatly increased our communication, how we communicate, and how often we communicate. We had the leadership team communicate every day at 2:30 p.m.on a call. It lasts about an hour and a half. We talk about the issues of the day, strategize about tomorrow. As we’re short staffed, our manufacturers are short as well. So the challenge of getting enough of the same products to keep the menu consistent throughout the district is relatively impossible. You may have some schools serving barbecued chicken today, and another school serving pizza, and a third set of schools serving chicken nuggets. Manufacturers that have a COVID outbreak are sometimes unable to deliver because they have no delivery drivers to work that day. So we’re missing delivery day. And we’re finding ourselves driving out to our supplier to pick up our own food.

Carl Williams is the executive director of the school nutrition office for the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

During the pandemic, a lot of students were at home and they went back to eating a lot of unhealthy food. We had been making some very good progress with the reducing the sodium and controlling the calorie intake and removing high-fructose corn syrup and all the harmful seven ingredients from the food. We’re proud to be a district {where} 95% of our product does not have the harmful 7. Unfortunately those are the items in the food that tastes really good.

So for a whole year students were eating all that high-fructose corn syrup food and all this McDonald’s burgers that got all this crap in it and now they back to eating our food and their taste buds have changed a little bit so now we got to get their taste buds back to being used to eating healthier, more nutritious food.

What motivated the district to make this big push toward more healthy products?

Butts: The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was the push we needed to go in a direction that was healthier, had less processed foods, more whole foods. With [the Detroit school district] having a two-acre farm and 84 school gardens, that was right up our alley.

Williams: Also … when you’re fueling your body with food that’s good for your body it helps combat a lot of our social diseases that we have — diabetes and obesity. Also, I was at a conference, and I listened to a professor show how your brain reacts to certain nutrients, when you eat it for breakfast in the morning, and how it fires certain areas in the brain for learning. There’s so much data that when your body is fueled properly it eliminates absenteeism because you’re sick less often (and) able to concentrate when you’re in school.

How has the pandemic affected some of the district’s efforts to improve school nutrition programs?

Skyla Butts is the communications and marketing manager in the school nutrition office for the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Butts: I have this board … that I keep all my tasks on. And a lot of it has the word “paused” next to it because of the marketing initiatives that we were rolling out or were doing very well, and then COVID hit. I had been on this bandwagon — I needed to have food trucks in the district. We were asked to put together a proposal and do a write-up on why we should have them. And then the board voted on it and voted for two. And then we were all set, and doing some of our soft openings. Then, of course, you know what happened in March of 2020. So we had these two beautiful food trucks just sitting. We’ve had opportunities here and there to take them out to different schools. But we’ve never had the opportunity to use them as intended. We wanted to bring these vehicles into the schools, we wanted to offer additional lunch items that aren’t on the current lunch menu to excite the students, get them excited about lunch again, and increase our lunch participation.

How have you kept staff motivated through a difficult time?

Butts: We know that this pandemic has hit our staff, hit our team so hard. We know we have to keep motivating our staff. We acknowledge them when we go to the schools and we say, hey, I’m just dropping by and just want to say, ‘You’re doing a great job.’ We have great partnerships with some organizations, some industries, who’ve given us some gift cards that we were able to go to our staff and say, you know, “I see you, I see what you’re doing, I know that you’re putting in that extra, you know, oomph.”

The pandemic helped a lot of people see how hard school nutrition employees had to work to ensure students received their meals. What was that time like for the department?

Williams: Honestly, food service workers are used to dealing with challenges and working in that manner and putting out fires every single day. That’s kind of what we do as an industry. We’ve got to be ready to feed [students], no matter who called off for the day, or what food shortage we got because at one o’clock, the doors got to open and we got to feed kids. So when all of this happened and it just got a lot worse and our staffing got shorted, nobody whined. We just went to work.

Butts: It’s just what we do. If a kid needs to be fed, we’re going to do what we need to do to get them fed.

You both received big honors recently from the state nutrition association. What does it mean to be recognized by your peers?

Williams: I was very happy that individuals see what we’re doing here is making a difference. And I’m very humbled and thankful. But internally, I gotta be honest, what I see is, how much more I have to do, and tomorrow, what I want to accomplish. I’m just focused on that.

Butts: We’re the type of people that are more comfortable behind the scenes. We are so team focused within our department, and I know that there are plenty of managers who do just as good or a better job in their roles. I look at it like this: I was selected to represent us as a team because nothing — and I mean nothing — that I do is singular. We need each other to make it happen.

Drop in routine childhood vaccinations during pandemic raises risk of outbreaks in a fourth of Tennessee counties

2021-12-22T22:24:52+00:00

At least a fourth of Tennessee counties risk outbreaks of diseases like measles, mumps, and whooping cough because more children missed their routine vaccinations during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, data shows.

They include urban counties based in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga, as well as a large swath of rural counties, especially in East Tennessee.

Memphis-based Shelby County was the only urban area to achieve at least a 95% kindergarten vaccination rate, the international threshold for preventing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable communicable diseases that also include diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, and chicken pox.

The concerning trend was highlighted to county health directors this fall in a communication from Dr. Paul Peterson, director of emergency preparedness for the Tennessee Department of Health.

In an Oct. 7 email, which Chalkbeat obtained through a public records request, Peterson encouraged health officers to examine the state’s latest report on kindergarten immunizations “so that we can work together to catch up on immunizations and help minimize vaccine preventable diseases.”

The report is the most complete data thus far about the status of Tennessee’s routine childhood vaccinations during the pandemic, when the number of shots dropped dramatically nationwide as regular doctor’s appointments and preventative health care were derailed to avoid coronavirus exposure.

Tennessee also trails most of the United States to get shots against COVID in the arms of children, teens, and adults. And the divide is especially wide for kids ages 5 to 11, with less than 7% in that age group fully vaccinated.

For routine vaccinations, Tennessee requires that children be immunized when enrolling in kindergarten. Other vaccinations are mandatory when enrolling in child care, pre-school, or pre-K, as well as the seventh grade.

The state’s immunization report for the 2020-21 school year shows 95.2% of all public and private school kindergartners were fully vaccinated.

However, the state’s analysis of county-by-county data showed that only 72 of Tennessee’s 95 counties reached the rate needed to achieve herd immunity in public schools, 15 fewer counties than the prior year.

Even fewer counties achieved herd immunity when factoring in kindergartners from private schools, which last year added more students and went from 4% to 5.2% of the state’s total kindergarten enrollment.

Dr. Morgan McDonald, deputy commissioner for population health for the department, said Tennesseans should be concerned about the vaccination lag.

“When a community drops below a 95% vaccination rate, we know their risk for outbreaks is significant,” McDonald said in an interview with Chalkbeat.

“These vaccine-preventable diseases are highly contagious. A case of measles can spread incredibly rapidly among individuals who are not vaccinated,” she said.

Measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 thanks to widespread vaccination, but outbreaks have occurred in recent years in pockets of unvaccinated people.

In 2016 in Memphis, a measles outbreak infected seven people, six of whom had not been vaccinated. A 2017 outbreak in Minnesota sickened 79 people.

Measles is especially dangerous for young children and can lead to pneumonia, swelling of the brain, and death.

While vaccine hesitancy has been a national issue in the fight to tame COVID, the latest data on routine vaccinations suggests pandemic-related disruptions to preventative health care is the bigger issue, McDonald said.

Last school year among students who were not fully immunized, less than one-tenth of 1 percent received a medical exemption. Religious exemptions, which nearly doubled to 1.8% from 2015 to 2018, have hovered at that rate over the last three years.

Public health officials hoped for a rebound in routine vaccinations as most children returned to in-person classes this fall. In June, the American Academy of Pediatrics called on parents to get their children up-to-date.

However, in Tennessee, vaccination outreach was dialed back during the critical summer months over pushback from conservative GOP lawmakers about the state’s public health role during the pandemic. Fewer school systems offered back-to-school vaccination events in the aftermath, and the state has yet to replace its top vaccination official who was fired by Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey during the controversy. Peterson is the state’s interim director over immunization work.

Piercey has maintained the state’s immunization program was not disrupted — and that children have access to their routine vaccinations through their local health departments.

McDonald said the state has been working with the Tennessee Academy of Pediatrics, the state education department, and other community partners to ensure vaccine availability and to get the word out.

School nurses are part of that process.

In rural Haywood County near Memphis, district nurse supervisor Julie Taylor sent letters last week telling 19 families to get their kindergartners vaccinated over the holidays. If the families do not submit documentation showing vaccination, the children won’t be allowed to return to school, she said.

With 84% of its kindergarteners vaccinated last school year, Haywood County logged the state’s lowest kindergarten immunization rate.

Taylor is hopeful for improvement this year, but acknowledged the challenge.

“It all points back to COVID. It was a difficult year,” she said.

“We had a lot of COVID in households in Haywood County, and it was all-consuming for school nurses as we worked with our local health departments to provide contract tracing. We were just trying to hold on and keep our students safe and healthy from the pandemic,” Taylor said.

This year, there’s been a more concerted effort to catch students up on shots they may have missed, which Taylor said was more about pandemic-related logistical challenges than vaccine hesitancy.

“These parents aren’t bad parents. Things just fell through the cracks,” she said.

Use our table below to look up your county’s kindergarten vaccination rate.

County	% fully immunized	Total kindergarten students
ANDERSON	96.70%	828
BEDFORD	95.00%	624
BENTON	98.00%	153
BLEDSOE	97.20%	106
BLOUNT	94.30%	1,362
BRADLEY	91.30%	1,114
CAMPBELL	95.50%	374
CANNON	97.80%	134
CARROLL	96.80%	316
CARTER	94.70%	550
CHEATHAM	96.70%	459
CHESTER	93.20%	207
CLAIBORNE	97.30%	329
CLAY	92.50%	80
COCKE	98.40%	387
COFFEE	96.50%	636
CROCKETT	99.10%	214
CUMBERLAND	97.10%	488
DAVIDSON	94.00%	6,907
DECATUR	96.50%	114
DEKALB	95.60%	228
DICKSON	97.30%	562
DYER	98.30%	460
FAYETTE	95.00%	278
FENTRESS	90.70%	172
FRANKLIN	97.30%	400
GIBSON	95.40%	669
GILES	92.10%	290
GRAINGER	98.10%	209
GREENE	98.20%	609
GRUNDY	94.70%	131
HAMBLEN	95.10%	771
HAMILTON	91.60%	3,689
HANCOCK	91.70%	60
HARDEMAN	98.40%	257
HARDIN	99.30%	276
HAWKINS	96.90%	482
HAYWOOD	84.00%	194
HENDERSON	97.20%	326
HENRY	97.30%	296
HICKMAN	95.70%	230
HOUSTON	94.30%	87
HUMPHREYS	95.50%	220
JACKSON	88.80%	107
JEFFERSON	95.80%	481
JOHNSON	93.80%	129
KNOX	94.70%	4,716
LAKE	97.00%	66
LAUDERDALE	100.00%	237
LAWRENCE	93.90%	477
LEWIS	96.40%	137
LINCOLN	96.90%	327
LOUDON	96.50%	372
MACON	97.40%	386
MADISON	96.40%	995
MARION	98.10%	316
MARSHALL	98.90%	278
MAURY	93.00%	1,104
MCMINN	96.20%	526
MCNAIRY	96.90%	290
MEIGS	95.90%	123
MONROE	93.00%	471
MONTGOMERY	94.70%	2,820
MOORE	93.20%	59
MORGAN	93.00%	200
OBION	95.80%	385
OVERTON	96.10%	205
PERRY	90.00%	70
PICKETT	92.00%	50
POLK	92.30%	130
PUTNAM	92.60%	797
RHEA	94.80%	386
ROANE	92.60%	433
ROBERTSON	95.00%	906
RUTHERFORD	96.10%	4,257
SCOTT	99.00%	296
SEQUATCHIE	98.40%	124
SEVIER	96.90%	1,048
SHELBY	96.10%	11,465
SMITH	99.50%	213
STEWART	93.00%	128
SULLIVAN	96.10%	1,337
SUMNER	96.00%	2,123
TIPTON	97.90%	761
TROUSDALE	97.90%	97
UNICOI	97.70%	132
UNION	85.30%	401
VAN BUREN	84.70%	59
WARREN	97.20%	425
WASHINGTON	96.40%	1,197
WAYNE	96.90%	159
WEAKLEY	96.40%	278
WHITE	89.40%	302
WILLIAMSON	95.10%	3,035
WILSON	96.50%	1,734

Percentage of Tennessee public and private school kindergarten students fully immunized by county

Nearly all Aurora school employees complied with COVID vaccine mandate

2021-11-30T23:01:11+00:00

More than 98% of Aurora school district employees have now complied with a mandate to get a COVID vaccine.

Last week the district said 40 employees are not in compliance. There were 151 who received an exemption.

The Aurora school district was the first in Colorado to announce in the spring that it would make the vaccine mandatory, although the requirement didn’t kick in until after the FDA gave final approval to one of the vaccines in August. The district said it hoped the mandate would allow for in-person school to happen with fewer cases and therefore fewer interruptions that would require remote learning this school year.

Colorado has seen a large number of COVID outbreaks at schools this fall. But relaxed quarantine rules this year have limited the number of times entire schools have had to switch to remote instruction.

The initial deadline for Aurora employees to get vaccinated was in early October. At that time, the district announced that nearly 89% of Aurora Public Schools employees — and 96% of staff with licenses including teachers — had complied.

Those who had not been vaccinated or received an exception had until last week to comply before losing their jobs.

The district is checking into information about the 40 non-compliant employees, then will begin the process for termination. A spokesperson for the district said the employees would still finish out the semester.

So far, just a handful of school districts have made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory. In Denver, the school district said that after more than 99.1% of its employees complied with the city health order, 108 employees could lose their jobs on Jan. 2, which gave those employees additional time to comply.

‘It’s inhumane’: Water fountains remain off in some Newark schools as district tests for lead

2021-11-23T21:51:37+00:00

Newark students who soldiered through a year of remote learning have returned to school to find a drinking water shortage.

The district, which did not complete lead testing before buildings reopened in September, has turned off most water fountains and does not expect to restore them until the spring. At some schools, the lack of safe drinking water has left teachers to buy cases of water for their classrooms and students to bring their own water or purchase bottles from school vending machines, according to teachers, parents, and students. At one high school, thirsty students have used bathroom sinks to fill their water bottles.

“It’s inhumane,” said an educator at the school who, like other district employees interviewed for this article, requested anonymity to avoid retaliation.

The district, which is receiving some $281 million in federal pandemic aid, has only sporadically purchased bottled water for schools to distribute, students and staffers said. This summer, the district accepted a donation of 1,200 cases of water from a trucking company.

“The water donation from Jones & Jones Trucking has been beneficial since drinking water sources within the schools have been closed off due to Covid-19 for the safety of students and staff,” read school board meeting notes from September.

State rules require school districts to ensure students have access to safe drinking water. Newark officials have cited “COVID restrictions” as a reason for the water fountain shutoff. However, state and federal guidance for reopening schools this fall did not recommend turning off water fountains.

“There’s really no COVID-related reason not to have functioning water fountains at this time,” said Dr. Susan Hassig, an epidemiology professor at Tulane University.

It appears that at least part of the reason many water outlets remain off in Newark schools is the district’s concern that lead might have accumulated in school plumbing during the many months when buildings were closed. Exposure to lead can cause serious damage to children’s brains and nervous systems.

Officials had planned to have all water sources tested for lead and water filters replaced before school started in September — but the district failed to meet its own deadline, according to school board documents. Now, the drinking water is expected to remain off well into next year.

In the meantime, many Newark students must bring their own water or do without.

“I can’t get any water, so I just sit there and do my work,” said Darren Johnson, a third grader at Louise A. Spencer School, who said the school occasionally provides mini bottles of water at lunch. His father, Ian Quinones, said no one informed him that the water fountains were shut off.

“If I had known about it, he would have been bringing water,” Quinones said. “No one ever told me about that situation.”

The school’s principal did not respond to a phone message. Dawn Haynes, president of the Newark school board, and a district spokesperson did not respond to emails asking why water fountains remain off and how safe drinking water is being provided.

Earlier in the pandemic, some experts cautioned against using public water fountains. However, as research showed the coronavirus is mainly transmitted through the air, water fountain restrictions became less common.

“It was initially a concern, but it has dropped off the radar,” said Hassig, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not include water fountain restrictions in its guidance for reopening schools this fall.

Despite plans to restore school drinking water by September, many Newark Public Schools water fountains remained off when students returned to classrooms this fall. Schools have sporadically given out bottled water or allowed students to use water coolers, but they have also shifted some of the responsibility onto families.

“Water fountains will be turned off,” said Oliver Street School’s fall 2021 reopening plan, “staff and students are encouraged to bring their own water.”

Students who bring reusable water bottles can’t always refill them, as only certain schools are equipped with bottle-filling stations. Some schools sell water in vending machines for about $1.50 per bottle, but that is unaffordable for some families. And schools only sometimes give out free bottled water, students said.

“We used to get small waters” at lunch, said Duquan Paige, a junior at Arts High School, “but not anymore.”

Teachers at some schools have taken it upon themselves to keep students hydrated. One high school teacher said she and colleagues regularly buy gallons of water and paper cups for their classrooms. At the high school where some students resorted to drinking sink water, one educator now brings in cases of bottled water.

“When I found out the kids were filling the water bottles from the sink, we decided to buy water,” she said, adding that the district does not reimburse teachers for out-of-pocket spending on food or drinks. “I feel it’s unethical to have kids without water.”

Initially, district officials had hoped to turn water fountains back on by the start of this school year.

“While drinking water sources have been shut off during COVID, it is the District’s intention to re-open those sources for school opening in September,” according to minutes from a June 16 school board committee meeting.

However, lead can build up in stagnant water inside plumbing that has not been used for an extended period — a special concern in Newark, where elevated lead levels have repeatedly been detected in school water. So, Newark officials determined, turning school water fountains back on would first “require testing and monitoring of all drinking sources as well as the installation of new filters prior to opening,” the board minutes show.

At the same time the district was planning to test water sources and install new filters, it canceled its contract with a company called EcoWater Systems, which had provided filtered drinking fountains and sinks for Newark schools since 2016. The board’s June 22 resolution canceling the contract meant the district now was in charge of managing its own water filters.

“The District now owns the filter equipment and is securing a new vendor for ongoing monitoring and filter replacement,” the board minutes say.

It’s unclear whether the district found a new vendor. But it is clear that lead testing was delayed: Instead of testing all water sources by September, as originally planned, testing did not actually begin until November, board documents show.

Amy Goldsmith, New Jersey state director of Clean Water Action, a national advocacy group, said short-staffed school districts occasionally turn off some water fountains that they don’t have the capacity to maintain. Whether Newark’s water shutoff is due to lead concerns, worker shortages, or some other issue, it is the district’s responsibility to distribute drinking water, she said.

“The schools should provide an adequate water supply for their staff and students,” she said. “It shouldn’t be the burden of teachers and parents to do that.”

Jennifer Santiago agrees. She has been buying bottled water for her son to take to Avon Avenue School.

“The school has no water,” she said. “Schools need to have water.”

Schools, pediatricians look to make up lost ground on non-COVID vaccinations

2021-11-22T20:00:00+00:00

Melissa Blatzer was determined to get her three children caught up on their routine immunizations on a recent Saturday morning at a walk-in clinic in this Denver suburb. It had been about a year since the kids’ last shots, a delay Blatzer chalked up to the pandemic.

Two-year-old Lincoln Blatzer, in his fleece dinosaur pajamas, waited anxiously in line for his hepatitis A vaccine. His siblings, 14-year-old Nyla Kusumah and 11-year-old Nevan Kusumah, were there for their Tdap, HPV and meningococcal vaccines, plus a COVID-19 shot for Nyla.

“You don’t have to make an appointment and you can take all three at once,” said Blatzer, who lives several miles away in Commerce City. That convenience outweighed the difficulty of getting everyone up early on a weekend.

Child health experts hope community clinics like this, along with the return to in-person classes, more well-child visits, and the rollout of COVID shots for younger children, can help boost routine childhood immunizations, which dropped during the pandemic. Despite a rebound, immunization rates are still lower than in 2019, and disparities in rates between racial and economic groups, particularly for Black children, have been exacerbated.

“We’re still not back to where we need to be,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatric infectious-disease doctor at Children’s Hospital Colorado and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Routine immunizations protect children against 16 infectious diseases, including measles, diphtheria, and chickenpox, and inhibit transmission to the community.

The rollout of COVID shots for younger kids is an opportunity to catch up on routine vaccinations, said O’Leary, adding that children can receive these vaccines together. Primary care practices, where many children are likely to receive the COVID shots, usually have other childhood vaccines on hand.

“It’s really important that parents and health care providers work together so that all children are up to date on these recommended vaccines,” said Dr. Malini DeSilva, an internist and pediatrician at HealthPartners in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. “Not only for the child’s health but for our community’s health.”

People were reluctant to come out for routine immunizations at the height of the pandemic, said Karen Miller, an immunization nurse manager for the Denver area’s Tri-County Health Department, which ran the Westminster clinic. National and global data confirm what Miller saw on the ground.

Global vaccine coverage in children fell from 2019 to 2020, according to a recent study by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF. Reasons included reduced access, lack of transportation, worries about COVID exposure and supply chain interruptions, the study said.

Third doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP) vaccine and of the polio vaccine decreased from 86% of all eligible children in 2019 to 83% in 2020, according to the study. Worldwide, 22.7 million children had not had their third dose of DTP in 2020, compared with 19 million in 2019. Three doses are far more effective than one or two at protecting children and communities.

In the United States, researchers who studied 2019 and 2020 data on routine vaccinations in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin found substantial disruptions in vaccination rates during the pandemic that continued into September 2020. For example, the percentage of 7-month-old babies who were up to date on vaccinations decreased from 81% in September 2019 to 74% a year later.

The proportion of Black children up to date on immunizations in almost all age groups was lower than that of children in other racial and ethnic groups. This was most pronounced in those turning 18 months old: Only 41% of Black children that age were caught up on vaccinations in September 2020, compared with 57% of all children at 18 months, said DeSilva, who led that study.

A CDC study of data from the National Immunization Surveys found that race and ethnicity, poverty, and lack of insurance created the greatest disparities in vaccination rates, and the authors noted that extra efforts are needed to counter the pandemic’s disruptions.

In addition to the problems caused by COVID, Miller said, competing life priorities like work and school impede families from keeping up with shots. Weekend vaccination clinics can help working parents get their children caught up on routine immunizations while they get a flu or COVID shot. Miller and O’Leary also said reminders via phone, text, or email can boost immunizations.

“Vaccines are so effective that I think it’s easy for families to put immunizations on the back burner because we don’t often hear about these diseases,” she said.

It’s a long and nasty list that includes hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, whooping cough, polio, rubella, rotavirus, pneumococcus, tetanus, diphtheria, human papillomavirus and meningococcal disease, among others. Even small drops in vaccination coverage can lead to outbreaks. And measles is the perfect example that worries experts, particularly as international travel opens up.

“Measles is among the most contagious diseases known to humankind, meaning that we have to keep very high vaccination coverage to keep it from spreading,” said O’Leary.

In 2019, 22 measles outbreaks occurred in 17 states in mostly unvaccinated children and adults. O’Leary said outbreaks in New York City were contained because surrounding areas had high vaccination coverage. But an outbreak in an undervaccinated community still could spread beyond its borders, he said.

In some states a significant number of parents were opposed to routine childhood vaccines even before the pandemic for religious or personal reasons, posing another challenge for health professionals. For example, 87% of Colorado kindergartners were vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella during the 2018-19 school year, one of the nation’s lowest rates.

Those rates bumped up to 91% in 2019-20 but are still below the CDC’s target of 95%.

O’Leary said he does not see the same level of hesitancy for routine immunizations as for COVID. “There has always been vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusers. But we’ve maintained vaccination rates north of 90% for all routine childhood vaccines for a long time now,” he said.

Malini said the “ripple effects” of missed vaccinations earlier in the pandemic continued into 2021. As children returned to in-person learning this fall, schools may have been the first place families heard about missed vaccinations. Individual states set vaccination requirements, and allowable exemptions, for entry at schools and child care facilities. Last year, Colorado passed a school entry immunization law that tightened allowable exemptions.

“Schools, where vaccination requirements are generally enforced, are stretched thin for a variety of reasons, including COVID,” said O’Leary, adding that managing vaccine requirements may be more difficult for some, but not all, schools.

Anayeli Dominguez, 13, was at the Westminster clinic for a Tdap vaccine because her middle school had noticed she was not up to date.

“School nurses play an important role in helping identify students in need of immunizations, and also by connecting families to resources both within the district and in the larger community,” said Denver Public Schools spokesperson Will Jones.

Newark scoops up space for new schools. Will its gamble pay off?

2021-11-18T21:17:26+00:00

Eager to expand but unable to afford new construction, the Newark school district is finding creative ways to acquire classroom space.

One strategy is to lease vacant buildings that once housed charter schools, offices, nurseries, and even a hospital. Next fall, the district plans to convert a recently shuttered Catholic school building in the city’s crowded East Ward into a new public school.

Besides leasing, the district also is renovating its existing properties and waging a legal battle to reclaim a building it sold years ago. If successful, the moves will allow the district to rapidly add schools and extend its footprint — an approach radically different from that taken by previous superintendents who closed under-enrolled schools and sold buildings in a bid to downsize the district.

“I and this administration do not subscribe to that edition of school reform,” Superintendent Roger León said at a school board meeting in February. “We open schools, we make schools better, we make schools worthy of the children of the city of Newark.”

Still, León’s aggressive expansion efforts come with big risks.

Superintendent Roger León at the ribbon cutting for the new Michelle Obama Elementary School in September 2021.

There are legal threats, including a complaint with a state oversight agency alleging that the district failed to obtain the necessary approval for its plan to reclaim the school building. There are construction challenges, including an apparent delay in converting the former hospital into a new high school.

And there are financial gambles. Even amid the pandemic, the district has spent millions of dollars on leases, renovations, and legal fees to secure space for several new schools, which then cost even more money to launch.

The investments could pay off if they help the district attract more students, who would bring more funding. But if not enough new students enroll, the district could be saddled with a big bill but no payoff.

“I still have my reservations because we do not know what the future holds in terms of our financials,” Newark school board member Asia Norton said at a meeting last year as the district prepared to lease another empty building. But, she concluded, it was a necessary risk “as we continue to want to grow our district.”

More space for more schools

In 2018, Newark’s elected school board effectively regained control of the school system after more than two decades of state management. Since then, the district has been on a school-opening spree.

Where Newark’s new public schools are located:

Newark Vocational (301 W. Kinney St.): Renovated building
Newark School of Global Studies (24 Crane St.): Former Early Childhood Center-North building
Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School (150 Newton St.): Former Newton Street School building
Michelle Obama Elementary School (186 14th Ave.): Former Fourteenth Avenue School building
Newark School of Fashion & Design (239 Woodside Ave.): Former Cristo Rey Newark High School building
Newark School of Data Science & Information Technology (746 Sanford Ave.): Former M.E.T.S. Charter School building
South Street Annex preschool (119 Clifford St.): Former Ironbound Medical Center
East Ward Annex preschool (184 Pacific St.): Former Saint Justine Nursery
Ironbound Academy Elementary School* (366 E. Kinney St.): Former Ironbound Catholic Academy
School of Architecture and Interior Design* (155 Jefferson St.): Former St. James Hospital

* School has not opened.

Led by León, the district has made plans for four new high schools, three new elementary schools, and two new preschools, along with the reopening of Newark Vocational High School. But to open new schools, Newark needs space. And since the state agency responsible for funding new school construction is out of money, district leaders have had to find workarounds.

“We are always looking for space,” said School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson at a meeting last year.

In 2019, the district closed a small elementary school, shifted a preschool into its space, and opened the Newark School of Global Studies where the preschool had been. In 2020, after a yearlong delay, the district launched the revamped Newark Vocational inside a fully renovated building. The same year, it reopened the shuttered Newton Street School, rechristening it as Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School. And this year, the district relocated an existing elementary school so it could launch a new school, named for Michelle Obama, in its building.

But even after the renovations and relocations, the district still needed more room. Without the money to build, it decided to rent. After a Catholic high school and a charter school shut down last year, the district swooped in and leased their buildings, where it opened two new high schools this fall.

The district has also scooped up vacant sites in the city’s East Ward, also known as the Ironbound, where many schools are jam-packed with students.

It leased a former medical office building and another that had housed St. Justine Nursery, turning both into district-run preschools this fall. In May, the school board authorized the district to enter into a 20-year, $160 million lease with the owner of the former St. James Hospital, which the district plans to transform into the School of Architecture and Interior Design. And it is in talks with the Archdiocese of Newark to lease a three-story building, located next door to East Side High School, that housed the Ironbound Catholic Academy before it closed last year. The district hopes to launch Ironbound Academy, a public elementary school, in the building next September.

Parents and preschool providers in the East Ward say more schools are sorely needed in the densely populated area. Classrooms are crowded, and some students must commute to other parts of the city because their neighborhood schools are full.

“It’s too many students and not enough staff,” said Milena Vieira, whose child is in the second grade at Ann Street School. “There’s new people coming in every day, and they have nowhere to put those kids.”

A district spokesperson did not respond to questions about the new Ironbound school. School board meeting minutes from October said the district is seeking a five-year lease for the property, which would help address “overcrowding concerns” in the East Ward and “offer opportunities to expand the district and its programming.”

Growing pains

The district’s race to open new schools marks a sea change from the era of state control, when the district closed campuses and shed students while charter schools spread. But the recent expansion, while celebrated by many residents, has faced its share of setbacks.

León had hoped to open a new school in the city’s South Ward by taking back a former district building that the city sold to a developer in 2017. But while the district makes its case in court, a KIPP charter school opened in the building this fall.

The case has also exposed the district to a separate legal challenge. The group that purchased and renovated the building on behalf of KIPP filed a complaint with the state’s Office of Administrative Law alleging that the district’s bid to reclaim the building amounted to a school facility project, which the state had not authorized. The district sought to have the complaint dismissed, saying it would seek state approval for a new school if it wins back the building.

An administrative law judge sided with the district. But in a ruling last month, the state education commissioner overturned that decision, allowing the case to proceed.

“The bottom line is: there’s an elaborate approval process that Superintendent León disregarded,” said Tom Johnston, a lawyer for the KIPP-affiliated group. District spokesperson Nancy Deering said the district does not discuss pending litigation.

The district has also occasionally struggled to keep up the furious pace of expansion, which it has tried to maintain even during the pandemic.

Renovation delays forced Newark Vocational students to spend a year in a shared campus. And six months after the school board approved the tentative lease agreement for the new architecture and design high school, the lease is still not finalized, board documents show. As a result, it appears the school will no longer open next September as planned.

The district has not announced the change and Deering did not respond to questions. If families search for the new school in the district’s enrollment guidebook, they’ll find no explanation for its absence.

Yet the district has successfully launched the other new schools it promised, giving Newark families enticing new options. District officials hope that families who might have opted for private, charter, or county-run schools in the past will now reconsider.

“We want to create world-class programs that are going to attract students from other districts,” Wilson said at a meeting in March. And with more students would come more funding.

It’s a costly gambit. The district spent about $4.5 million on salaries and classroom supplies for the three schools it opened this fall, Wilson said, a price that does not include rent. Last year, it spent $3.4 million on asbestos removal while renovating several schools.

The question now is whether Newark can enroll enough new students to justify the expansion.

The most recent enrollment numbers, which are from last school year, show high demand for some new schools, including Michelle Obama Elementary. But that was not true for others.

Sir Isaac Newton Elementary had about 130 open seats in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, according to the enrollment guide. State data from last October show only 57 students were enrolled.