Education

Schools Keep Feeding Students During Closures

At several Morgan County Schools today, administrators will be handing out grab-and-go lunches and breakfasts for what was supposed to be the rest of the school week to nearly 2,000 students who requested them. On Monday, staff will do it again, handing out 10 meals for students to eat during the week. At Russellville City Schools, there’s one pick-up point available Monday through Friday for any student in the system to get a lunch for that day and breakfast for the next day. Across the state, public K-12 school systems are figuring out how to feed the students who often rely on school meals while they’re closed at least through early April in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Read more.

by Caroline Beck and Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

With COVID-19 Cases Confirmed, Schools are Set to Close, Drive-Thru Testing Begins and Churches and Facilities Put Precautions in Place

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey closed public schools and declared a state of emergency Friday as Alabama confirmed its first cases of COVID-19. A Jefferson County resident became the second confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the state, and a Montgomery man was identified with the virus earlier Friday. The Department of Public Health is reporting four presumptive positive tests in addition to the two positive results. Those people are in Elmore, Limestone and Tuscaloosa counties, and one person tested was from out of town, according to the Department of Public Health website. In all, 74 people had been approved for tests when the website was updated Friday. The Jefferson County case involves an international traveler who returned home and was tested by a private physician. The Montgomery case is a Maxwell Air Force Base civilian employee. Across the nation, there were 1,629 cases of the virus and 41 deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control's update as of Friday evening. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Sports Fans’ Dismay: Most Sporting Events Suspended, Locally and Nationally

If you were planning to take in a Birmingham Bulls hockey game, or a youth volleyball tournament or youth soccer play, you’re bound for disappointment. Sports have been anything but fun and games this week as COVID-19 has knocked much of the sports world off its axis. The diagnosis that one, and then a second, player in the National Basketball Association has contracted the virus began a domino effect that continues to ripple across the country and even to some youth sports in metro Birmingham. Locally, a weekend bicycle race, a volleyball tournament and youth soccer play are among the events that have been called off. Beyond today, Gov. Kay Ivey announced that public schools will close at the end of business Wednesday and remain closed for about two weeks with a proposed reopening on April 8. During that school closure, there will be no school sports events or practices. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

UAB Latest Area College to Move Classes Online to Battle COVID-19 Threat

UPDATED — Several Birmingham-area institutes of higher learning are considering moving to online classes in the wake of Samford University’s announcement that it will begin the electronic classes Monday to avoid exposure to coronavirus. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Coronavirus Disrupts Alabama Colleges and Businesses

Troy University sophomore Nicholas Gil had been planning a trip to China since September to further his education during spring break. Those plans ended abruptly, however, when the airlines began canceling flights and colleges and universities across Alabama suspended travel due to the coronavirus spreading around the world. “I was majorly disappointed,” said Gil, whose canceled trip was part of the Confucius Institute at Troy. Confucius institutes are affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education to teach Americans about Chinese business, education, culture and public interests. The coronavirus is disrupting the lives of students, faculty members and business people across Alabama as entities race to protect their constituents and prevent the introduction and spread of the virus onto their sites. Read more.

by Scott Morris

Lawmakers: Schools Unfairly Hurt by Report Cards’ Treatment of Non-English Speakers

On the most recent state-mandated school report card, Russellville City Schools had a graduation rate of almost 96% and its score for academic growth — improvements made by students — was an impressive 99.46. Ninety-one percent of students were considered college and career ready, better than the state average of 75%, and it had a low chronic absenteeism rate. Still, the system is labeled a “B,” largely because of its performance in academic achievement, a category of the report card based on students’ performance on a standardized test. Of Russellville City Schools’ nearly 2,500 students, more than 600 are English language learners who are not proficient in the language. “That’s 23% of my students who can’t read the test,” Superintendent Heath Grimes said. “We’re giving 660 students a test they can’t read.” Read more.

by Mary Sell and Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Alabamians: Keep Elected State Board of Education

Alabamians on Tuesday said they want to keep their ability to vote for the state’s K-12 leaders. Amendment One was defeated soundly. With more than 1.1 million votes cast, about 75% were “no” votes, according to unofficial results from the Alabama Secretary of State. The amendment would have done away with the current elected Alabama State Board of Education that oversees K-12 education, replacing it with a governor-appointed commission. The amendment’s defeat is a loss for Gov. Kay Ivey, who was its chief advocate. It also had the support of other state GOP leaders and a coalition of groups led by the Alabama Farmers Federation, who pinned schools’ poor achievement rankings on the board of eight elected members. But some, including the Alabama Republican Party’s executive committee, opposed the amendment that would have ended Alabamians’ ability to elect state education leaders, something they’ve done for about 50 years. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Voters Reject Amendment, Keep Elected School Board

Alabamians on Tuesday said they want to keep their ability to vote for the state’s K-12 leaders. Amendment One was defeated soundly, with more than 1.1 million votes cast. About 75% were “no” votes, according to unofficial results from the Alabama Secretary of State. The amendment would have done away with the current elected Alabama State Board of Education that oversees K-12 education, replacing it with a governor-appointed commission. “I’m proud of the people of the state,” current board member Jeff Newman, a Republican who represents the Shoals and a portion of the Tennessee Valley, said Tuesday night. “I like to work for the people, the schools belong to the people.”  “… There’s no doubt we have work to do in education, we do; but we need the means to do it.”  Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Birmingham Promise Scholarship and Internship Program Gets Corporate Backers

Mayor Randall Woodfin announced Tuesday that three corporate foundations — Alabama Power, Altec/Styslinger and Regions — have each committed $1 million to the new Birmingham Promise educational initiative. The Birmingham Promise initiative initially was approved as part of the city’s FY 2020 budget, funded with $2 million taken from the city’s allocation to Birmingham City Schools. The program is planned to offer juniors and seniors in city schools paid internships and dual enrollment opportunities, as well as offering graduates the opportunity to attend in-state two-year or four-year public colleges tuition-free. The $3 million in corporate contributions announced Tuesday will go “a long way” toward the tuition assistance side of the Birmingham Promise, Woodfin said. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Jefferson County Memorial Project Efforts Continue Into the Next Decade

The Jefferson County Memorial Project, a grassroots, citizen-led organization that focuses on uncovering and reconciling racial terror and racial violence that is a part of the county’s past, is in its second year of operation with no end in sight. The coalition has continued its work with city committees to delve more deeply into local incidents and to make plans for memorials in their areas, with events to raise awareness, with a student essay contest and with a quilting project to illustrate the area’s past of racial violence through art. More academically inclined work also is continuing, and JCMP on Tuesday released a new report that built on last year’s work documenting Jefferson County’s lynching victims and describing the ways police, the media and businesses fed into the violence of the era. Read more.

by Cheryl Slocum