As our community strives to respond to COVID-19 and its impact, all of us at Public Education Partners are reminded of how critically important public schools are to our civic life.
Thank you to Greenville County Schools leadership, administrators, teachers, and staff for their tireless work over the last few weeks and in the days to come as we navigate this moment. We are proud to stand with you and other community organizations as a partner.
Please see below for a current and updated listing of relevant policy and legislation updates, as well as resources for teachers and parents.
K-12 POLICY UPDATES
PEP’s policy and advocacy team are tracking local, state, and federal policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis. You can access the team’s running updates here.
Highlights
- Governor McMaster has ordered all schools to remain closed through April 30, 2020. You can access the Governor’s executive orders here.
- Most spring 2020 testing has been cancelled, including the SC READY and SCPASS exams.
- The South Carolina General Assembly – currently out of session – reconvened last week for the purpose of passing a Continuing Resolution (to extend the 2019 – 20 state budget until a 2020 – 21 can be passed) and a Sine Die Resolution (to end the legislative session, likely until fall 2020). The two bodies were unable to negotiate the two resolutions and no bills were sent to Governor McMaster for his signature.
- SC legislators could have $1.2 billion less to spend in 2020 – 21, but even with a three-month shutdown the state could still have a $750 million surplus to work with.
- SC seniors will still be able to graduate this year, according to Superintendent Molly Spearman. They will be graded on the school work they’re doing from home.
- The federal CARES Act was signed into law on Friday, March 27th. $13.5 billion of the $2.2 trillion stimulus is earmarked for K-12 schools.
- South Carolina will receive nearly $2 billion of the CARES Act stimulus money, and the Governor will have significant discretion in the way the funds are allocated.
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
- Tele-Town Hall with Superintendent Spearman hosted by PSTA and SCEA
- Jen Serravallo on Using Free Resources To Support Remote Teaching And Learning
- Social and Emotional Learning support during the COVID-19 outbreak, including how to talk with children about the crisis
- We Are Teachers: The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds
- Self-care for SC educators
- We Are Teachers HELPLINE Group
- Here’s What I Want My Students to Know When We’re Not Together
- SC Remote Learning Portal – released April 9th
- Bradshaw Bulletin for Educators – April 20th Edition
RESOURCES FOR PARENTS
- Greenville County Schools eLearning support
- Virtual Parenting Support Webinar Series: Bradshaw Institute for Community Child Health & Advocacy – Click here for more information and to register
- SCETV eLearning Resources
- Video from Kathy Collins on “Downtime”: Part 1
- Author to Author: Parent Resources from author Matt Glover
- Help sorting through online resources from The 74
- Nightly read-alouds and companion guides from local children’s book authors Philip and Erin Ulrich
- Child-centered family activities while eLearning from home
- Learn at Home from Scholastic
- 30+ virtual field trips
- The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds
- Free audio books from Amazon’s Audible Library
- Reach Out and Read’s At-home resources for families and students
- Storyline Online – streaming video read alouds by actors
- Child Mind Institute: Supporting Families During Covid-19
- Wide Open School – an excellent resource for parents and educators alike
- 125 ideas to keep kids entertained and avoid cabin fever from Parade magazine
- Celebrities read alouds from Save the Children and No Kid Hungry, #SaveWithStories
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
The United Way of Greenville County is coordinating COVID-19 response efforts in partnership with Greenville County Schools and other area nonprofits. Learn more here.
- Navigating unemployment, SNAP, and other benefits (English and Spanish)
- Food Insecurity
- Greenville County Schools daily feeding sites
- Map of GCS feeding + Wi-Fi sites
- Eat Smart Move More SC food insecurity landing page
- COVID-19 Coverage
- SC DHEC COVID-19 resources
- NYTimes COVID-19 map
- Post & Courier COVID-19 coverage
- 12 things everyone should know about COVID-19
- COVID-19 and racial equity
- SC Department of Education COVID-19 hub