Week in Review 10-23-2020

Week in Review > Week in Review 10-23-2020

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on October 23rd, 2020

CORONAVIRUS

“These numbers are grim; they are going to wrong direction. Everything is going the wrong direction. But we know what will work. We’ve done this before,” Gov. Mike DeWine stressed repeatedly over the week as Ohio’s coronavirus cases continued to increase with the number of new cases setting records on Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday, when the state reached 2,425 new cases and a total of 190,430 cases since the pandemic began. Tuesday saw hospitalizations increase by 216 — also a record.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates both expressed optimism that there will be a way out of the pandemic Monday, as the two gave remarks at the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) annual meeting. Fauci is director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, while Gates co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supporting global health efforts. In regard to therapeutic treatments, Fauci said the NIH has an international panel to develop guidelines, providing updated information to clinicians around the world on treating COVID-19. Investigational drugs are being “actively tested,” he said, and they have found some successful results already.

The DeWine administration will soon launch a registration portal for medical providers who would like to administer the anticipated coronavirus vaccination, having recently submitted a draft plan to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for how it would distribute vaccines, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday. Ohio’s interim draft plan anticipates four phases of vaccine distribution.

EDUCATION

The Capitol Square Foundation announced that it is offering free online resources for teachers, students and families to better understand headlines and how governments work amid the health and economic challenges of 2020, as well as the presidential election. The resources were created in partnership with iCivics, a civic education nonprofit founded by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs. They are intended to align to Ohio’s academic content standards and tied to Ohio’s history and constitution. The resources are designed for use both remotely and in classrooms, reflecting the nature of education during the pandemic. They are available at www.icivics.org/teachers/oh.

An Ohio Supreme Court case on the qualifications required for an employee to go armed on school grounds is drawing heavy interest from other parties, with amicus briefs filed by Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio’s two teachers’ unions, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and two of Ohio’s largest cities, among others. Justices decided this summer to take up Gabbard v. Madison Local School District Board of Education, in which a group of parents is challenging Madison Local’s decision to authorize concealed carry by school staff in the wake of a school shooting at its junior-senior high building. The Butler County district prevailed at trial, but the 12th District Court of Appeals sided with the parents. The Supreme Court stayed the appellate ruling while it considers the case.

Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) founder William Lager is asking the trial court in the state’s case against him to drop several counts, arguing the alleged conflicts of interest in school vendor contracts were never mentioned in 17 state audits of the school only to be “conveniently raised during a statewide election.” Lager and ECOT vendor Altair Learning Management recently filed a motion for summary judgement on the state’s allegations about improper spending on vendor contracts with Altair, IQ Innovations, Third Wave Communications and Third Wave Communications & Media; his liability for that improper spending; and his breach of fiduciary duty to ECOT, among other charges.