At Friday’s meeting for the Head Start Policy Council, an early education assistance program for families with children ages 3-5 who are at or below the federal poverty level, the council discussed how pre-schools are adjusting to in-person and virtual learning during COVID-19.
The CARES Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act provides fast and direct economic assistance in emergency education funding to students, schools, educators, and institutions.
According to Patricia Kirkland, interim deputy human services director of the council, the CARES Act is in the process of funding tablets and data packages for students with families that can’t participate in the home visiting program.
The home visiting program helps to support new parents and their children with education development. An addition to the home visiting program is that providers can help adjust school schedules for families with preschool students learning from home.
Kirkland said that the program is doing what they can to help families who are stressed about long-distance learning. Providing tablets will make it easier for students to attend virtual classes without families having to worry about spending extra money on school supplies. The tablets also make the home visiting program more accessible to families trying to adjust school schedules for their children.
Monitoring
The plan for the 2020-2021 school year states that monitoring will take place electronically.
Teachers will be sent an electronic questionnaire in order to track what precautions they’re taking when teaching in-person classes. After the questionnaire is sent in, teachers will receive a report during a meeting.
The report will provide feedback on how teachers can improve safety regarding COVID-19 in the classroom.
“We want to ensure that there’s a safe environment for .. staff and children as we move along,” Alma Quintana, the quality assurance manager for Head Start, said during the meeting. Monitoring will continue to be adjusted as needed to ensure the process is safe.
Precautions in Classrooms
The health and safety plan created for classrooms was also discussed in the meeting. The health plan is a document that they’re having education service providers fill out program-wide.
The document will include questions about what teachers and schools across the state are doing to keep educational environments safe.
The health plan also includes suggestions on how to keep classroom environments clean such as disinfecting toys, disposing of pens, temperature checks, and sanitation throughout the day.
“Never in my lifetime did I think I’d see anything like this,” Kirkland said during the meeting. “But we’re adapting … and I have to say that the school districts have really, really done an amazing job.”
Contact the reporter at mlizak@asu.edu.
