It is now CT law: AN ACT CONCERNING THE INCLUSION OF BLACK AND LATINO STUDIES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM

The Act to include African-American studies in the social studies component of the public school curriculum was signed into law on June 21, 2020.

Scot Esdaile, President of the Connecticut NAACP State Conference and a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors, testimony was among more than 200 heard or filed on March 6, 2019, at the Connecticut General Assembly’s Education Committee, urging passage of House Bill 7082, An Act Concerning the Inclusion of Black and Latino Studies in the Public School Curriculum.

Before the legislative session concluded last spring, the law was approved unanimously by the Senate and 122-24 in the House, and was subsequently signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont on June 21, 2019.  The curriculum is now being developed, in accordance with the law’s requirements.

It requires the State Board of Education to review and approve, by January 1, 2021, a Black and Latino studies year-long high school course that the State Education Resource Center (SERC) has been designated to develop. Local Boards of Education must offer the course in the 2022-23 school year, but they may do so in the 2021-22 school year. The law requires the high school course to be offered, but does not require that every student take the course. 

During the school years 2022-23 to 2024-25, the State Department of Education must conduct an annual audit to ensure that the Black and Latino studies course is being offered by each Board of Education in the state.

Among those testifying at the Capitol last year were students, including those attending colleges and high schools throughout Connecticut.

The process of developing the curriculum and course syllabus is now well underway.  Even with obstacles presented by COVID-19 restrictions, SERC has moved forward, with appointment of a nearly 150-member Advisory Group, and additional input from focus groups and surveys of state residents. 

‘She is visionary’: Estrella brings new perspective to Norwalk schools

Photo: Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

Alexandra Estrella began as Norwalk’s new superintendent of schools this week.

Read the entire article here.

…“Part of my work right now is listening and learning,” Estrella said. “As I learn more about the thinking, I can better respond. ... As I continue with listening and learning, part of what I'm doing is building relationships and establishing an understanding in who the people are and what are their interests? What are their priorities? To me, it's about building relationships, having open communication and hoping we can have more dialogue moving forward.”

Estrella has spoken with Brenda Penn-Williams, president of the Norwalk branch of the NAACP, about how to move forward and develop a more open relationship.

“I’m very encouraged,” Penn-Williams said. “We have a new superintendent I think I can work with and we can have a great relationship. I’m hoping to see more minority teachers. I’m also looking for ... some kind of alternative program to expulsion. I’m looking to see the gap is really closed. They’re saying the gap is closed. I’d like to see real data.”

Summer opportunities for youth

Caver is operating two in-person day camps this summer, one at the Carver Community Center and the other at Columbus Magnet School. We are also conducting our four middle and two hjgh school summer transition programs virtually with elements of in-person experiences.

Meanwhile, there are many other great opportunities for Norwalk youth to learn and have fun this summer.

Norwalk ACTS maintains the TEAM Summer portal that keeps up-to-date information on many resources that will assist in keeping Norwalk kids learning, safe, and healthy this summer. 

Specifically, among the many opportunities described at TEAM Summer, here are summer programs being planned at the Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk Parks & Recreation, Norwalk Public Library, and Stepping Stones Museum for Children.

Announcing the launch of ConnectiCorps

The Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance (the Alliance), of which Carver is a member, is announcing the launch of ConnectiCorps, a new program that will provide community service opportunities for residents while helping community nonprofits that have faced a shortage of volunteers and increased demands due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Similar in concept to the Peace Corps, ConnectiCorps grew from an idea of Governor Lamont’s and is financially supported by AmeriCorps and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. It was announced last week by the Governor at Foodshare. The press release can be found here.

This exciting program meets three immediate needs in the age of COVID-19, it:         

• helps community nonprofits meet their missions;

• supports the people who depend on nonprofits for essential services; and

• provides paid service opportunities for young people at a time of high unemployment.

It also gives The Alliance and Connecticut a chance to be a model for the rest of the country, a program that can be replicated across America. 

While Carver has been providing many programs since the onset of the pandemic, we have not had a need for in-person volunteers. However, we urge everyone to consider supporting this important new initiative. Managing the program for the Alliance means recruiting members and finding placements for them. If you'd like to be considered as a ConnectiCorps site, or if you'd like to share this service opportunity with potential members, please share your interest by using this form. 

The Program Director is Alison Newman Fisher at afisher@ctnonprofitalliance.org.

The state releases guidelines for reopening the schools in the fall

Days after announcing a plan to reopen school full time in the fall, state officials yesterday released this 50-page set of guidelines.

Because experts are continuing to learn more about COVID-19 and the conditions surrounding the pandemic are continually changing, this preliminary guidance will likely
evolve and be amended or supplemented.

Individualized considerations based upon unique circumstances in each school district may also be needed. The state will conduct a survey to find out how many parents want to keep their kids home in the fall for remote learning.

It has been 100 years since educational, public health, and governmental leaders have had
to grapple with the challenges we are facing today, and have been facing for the last several months. When the effects of the pandemic required that schools across Connecticut cancel in-school classes during March, it took moments to realize that education in Connecticut would be forever changed. Connecticut has long been focused on providing all students with equity and excellence in education, and this pandemic has forced us to further focus on the inequalities that still exist within our system and to begin to address them with renewed fidelity.

For the last several months, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) has
been working hand in hand with the Office of the Governor, educational stakeholders, and philanthropic leaders to identify the technological needs of students across our state, and we’ve begun to address the issues of device access and internet connectivity. Eliminating those obstacles will bring us one step closer to leveling the playing field for all of our students in the event that we find ourselves in a similar remote learning situation in the future.

Longtime Carver instructor, Jerry Craft, wins 2020 Newbery Medal with his graphic novel ‘New Kid’

Jerry Craft is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator who has for many years taught Carver after-school kids how to draw and write stories.

His book, “New Kid,” is the winner of the 2020 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. It is the first graphic novel in the Newbery’s nearly 100 year history to receive the award.  Craft is only the fifth African-American author to land the coveted prize.

“New Kid” was also awarded the Coretta Scott King award for an outstanding work by an African American writer. Craft is the second person to have simultaneously won both awards in the same year. New Kid was also the first graphic novel to win the Kirkus Prize in the “Young Readers’ Literature” category.

New Kid follows the life of Jordan Banks, one of the only children of color at a prestigious private school. Announcing Craft’s win, Newbery committee chair Krishna Grady called it a “distinct and timely story”. “Respectful of its child audience, it explores friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh and often humorous manner … It is, simply put, a ‘distinguished contribution to American literature’,” said Grady, referring to the criteria of the prize, which is given by the Association for Library Service to Children.

Established in 1922, the Newbery has gone to titles including L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Sachar’s Holes and Cleary’s Dear Mr Henshaw.

Craft was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City. He is a graduate of The Fieldston School and received his B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts. He resides in Connecticut with his two sons and two beagles.

Applications being accepted to be a 2020 Afterschool Alliance Youth Ambassador

The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality afterschool programs.

The Afterschool Alliance's Afterschool Ambassador program identifies afterschool providers and advocates of special achievement and helps them raise their voices in support of afterschool.

The Youth Ambassador program is an incredible opportunity for students to share their experiences of afterschool and summer learning programs and the ways that participation in those programs have significantly impacted their lives.

The Alliance selects 12 to 20 Youth Ambassadors from around the country each year, and then provides training, technical support, and modest funding for their Ambassadorial activities throughout the school year. Those activities include: coordinating a major Lights On Afterschool community event; working in concert with other local providers, advocates and business and community leaders to promote afterschool; reaching out to policy makers and the media on afterschool issues; and more.

State leaders announce a provisional framework for reopening schools in the fall

Yesterday, Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona today announced details of the framework to allow all students – in all school districts statewide – the opportunity to have access to in-school, full-time instruction at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year, as long as public health data continues to support this model.

While Connecticut has determined reopening schools for in-person instruction can be achieved based upon the state’s successful COVID-19 containment efforts, this model will be supported with more intensive mitigation strategies and specific monitoring, containment, and class cancellation plans.

“While we’ve made good strides to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in Connecticut, the virus hasn’t gone away and we need to do what we can to keep students and staff safe while also doing our best to provide our young people with access to an education that prepares them for the future,” Governor Lamont said. “Working with public health and medical experts, and with the support of our educators, we are preparing a number of steps that protect the health and safety of everyone who makes contact with our school system.”

In assessing the approach to a required operating model, the Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE) considered input from school representatives, educators, families, students, educational stakeholders, advocacy organizations, and union representatives. The department conducted a review of nationally and globally published school reopening plans. The importance of access to in-person schooling rose as a priority related to educational opportunities, safety, wellbeing, and social-emotional learning.

“This pandemic represents more than a virus, it represents an historic disruption to our school communities and created barriers to how we best deliver academic and non-academic supports in a way that is accessible, equitable, and meaningful,” Commissioner Cardona said. “Addressing the educational setbacks and the social-emotional toll caused by COVID-19 is best addressed by maximizing in-person instructional time. In developing this plan, we worked in close consultation with public health officials to prioritize the safety of our school communities and, just as intensively, engaged students, parents, and educators for their critical input. We stand with our districts, educators and families as we commit to making 2020-21 a year devoted to creativity, innovation, courage, and reimagining education together.”

In addition to the provisional framework released yesterday, SDE plans to release a more detailed guidance document next week that will provide more comprehensive information for school districts.

 Executive summary of Connecticut’s 2020-21 school planning

 Presentation on Connecticut’s 2020-21 school planning

Framework for Connecticut Schools During the 2020-21 Academic Year

Guiding Principles

As Connecticut schools plan to reopen, the guidance and considerations outlined in this framework are grounded in six guiding principles:

1. Safeguarding the health and safety of students and staff;

2. Allowing all students the opportunity to return into the classrooms full time starting in the fall;

3. Monitoring the school populations and, when necessary, potentially cancelling classes in the future to appropriately contain COVID-19 spread;

4. Emphasizing equity, access, and support to the students and communities who are emerging from this historic disruption;

5. Developing strong two-way communication with partners such as families, educators and staff; and

6. Factoring into decisions about reopening the challenges to the physical safety and social-emotional well-being of our students when they are not in school.

These guiding principles require all districts to develop their plans with a certain level of consistency, however they retain wide discretion in implementing approaches to reopening given unique local considerations. School districts must balance their planning with contingency plans to provide robust, blended learning or remote learning for all grades in the event that a school, district, or region has to cancel or limit in-person classes due to health precautions.

Main Operational Considerations

Cohorting

• Districts should emphasize grouping students by the same class/group of students and teacher (into a cohort) so each team functions independently as much as possible. Consider this methodology by grade levels.

• Placing students in cohorts is strongly encouraged for grades K-8, and encouraged where feasible for grades 9-12.

Social Distancing and Facilities

• Review building space and reconfigure available classroom space, such as gymnasiums and auditoriums, to maximize social distancing, consistent with public health guidelines in place at that time.

Transportation

• Districts should plan for buses to operate close to capacity with heightened health and safety protocols, including requiring all students and operators wear face coverings.

• Transportation operators will need to activate increased social distancing protocols based upon community spread.

Face Coverings

• All staff and students will be expected to wear a protective face covering or face mask that completely covers the nose and mouth when inside the school building, except for certain exceptions including when teachers are providing instruction.

Ensuring Equity and Access

• Equitable access to education is a top priority that supports a full-time in-school model by mitigating any barriers to education or opportunity gaps that increased during the pandemic. Efforts to support equity, close the opportunity gap, and provide a wide range of support for students in the state is best achieved with in-person schooling opportunities for all ages.

• Districts should identify gaps and develop action plans for reopening that specifically address inclusion, equity, and access for all learners with strategies and clearly defined action steps.

Monitoring, Containment, and Class Cancellations Plan

• Develop robust monitoring and containment protocols, and class cancellation plans, in the event there are public health indicators that may require temporary closure of the building, such as evidence of community transmission in the school.

• If public health data requires partial reopening, or if schools containment efforts require partial closure, LEAS must prioritize the return of vulnerable learner groups, with specific protocols to increase the in-school population over time until full in person instruction is achieved.

21st CCLC funding benefits Carver students

Founded in 1938, Carver was an early leader in the national movement of providing students support after school. Once Carver expanded beyond its community center into Norwalk’s schools, Carver began to receive very competitive 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grants. This is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to support local after-school, before-school and summer learning programs.

In 2001, The U.S. Congress expanded the 21st Century program through the No Child Left Behind Act. Through NCLB, Congress increased the funding for the 21st Century program from $40 million to $1 billion.

With NCLB, Congress also changed how 21st Century grants were distributed. Rather than give money directly to schools, the program began distributing funds to states. The amount of money allocated to each state is now based on the percentage of schools within a state that qualify as Title I schools (schools where at least 40 percent of the students are from families living below the poverty line). The states then determine how the funds are distributed to schools and to nonprofit organizations like Carver.

21st CCLC funding enables Carver to provide provide students with unique opportunities they might not otherwise have access to, including STEM opportunities, college and career exploration, workforce development, and social and emotional supports. 21st CCLC helps Carver to close opportunity and achievement gaps for our students.

Here’s how school nutrition is being reinvented nationally for the uncertain year ahead

School districts are reimagining what meal service will look like in the future, while trying to meet the needs of students and families during this immediate crisis. We do not know yet what specific plans are being designed for Norwalk Public Schools and other schools where Carver operates, but this we know for sure: the school cafeteria will be unrecognizable when the next academic year begins in the fall.

Whether or not in-person instruction resumes, students may be receiving breakfast and lunch in their classrooms, or they may be receiving more of the take-home meals that are now being delivered throughout the Norwalk school district, including via the Carver Community Center.

Nationally, more than 80 percent of schools offer food via drive-through pick up, and over half offer walk-up services, according to a recent School Nutrition Association survey.

This month, the Department of Agriculture extended a crucial waiver that allows all school districts, not just those in poor neighborhoods, to provide free meal service this summer. For example, the free food service now provided at the Carver Community Center from 12-2 PM each day will be extended until at last August 30th.

The agency in May extended waivers that allow school districts to operate grab-and-go models and permit parents to pick up food on their children’s behalf. No documentation is required at Carver. The food is available for non-NPS students as well.

School nutrition directors are saying they will need future extensions; they won’t be able to resume regular operations for months — possibly even years. The USDA will likely need to extend the waivers until we have a cure, or until we have vaccines. Directors at the nation’s largest school districts are saying that we won’t be back to normal (or as close to normal as we possibly can be) for two to even 10 years. Schools may have to do away with the lunch period itself. Students may be picking up their meals from the cafeteria on a classroom-by-classroom basis, then eating during their lessons.

Nutrition staffers may cook and deliver meals to classrooms ahead of time, which can make eating breakfast at school a more inclusive and less stigmatizing prospect for students who rely on it. But as a lunch model, it can pose unique hurdles, particularly at larger schools that are considering a cafeteria-to-classroom delivery model.

Complicating matters are the financial challenges: The pandemic imposed unexpected budgetary pressures on lunch programs, which have generally struggled to stay in the black. Most school lunch programs operate at cost or at a slight deficit; their revenues cover 97 percent of expenses on average, according to a USDA report on the school lunch program published last year. Over 67% of school districts are projecting deficits this year, and just one-third say that they can cover financial losses with money from general funds, according to SNA’s survey.

What school meal service will look like also depends a lot on ever-evolving local and federal Covid-19 guidelines. Only one thing is certain right now: School meals will become increasingly integral to child nutrition as families grapple with pandemic-related unemployment and financial hardship. Carver families are going to be relying on school meals more than ever.