Thank you to all who joined us in attending this week’s informational COVID-19 webinars. For those of you who were unable to join, recordings of the webinars can be found below:
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School and State Finance Project and Pullman & Comley: COVID-19 Impacts to CT’s Economy & School Funding
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National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools: COVID-19 and Students with Disabilities
Legislative Update
This week, Governor Lamont announced that Connecticut would be joining seven other states on the newly formed COVID-19 Reopening Task Force to collaboratively re-open state economies in the safest manner possible. The task force is comprised of the following states: Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware.
CARES Act Education Updates
In the CARES Act, $30.75 billion has been allocated to the Education Stabilization Fund for emergency support to local education agencies, higher education institutions, and other education-related entities most significantly impacted by COVID-19. Under this fund, Connecticut will receive $28 million for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to provide emergency support to districts and the state, higher education institutions, and any other education-related entity deemed essential for carrying out educational services. Additionally, Connecticut will receive $111 million for the Elementary and Secondary Education Relief Fund and $134 million for Higher Education Emergency Relief to support emergency support and response to COVID-19.
If your school is interested in applying for one of the SBA Loans under the CARES Act, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools put together a great overview of the programs and how to apply.
Lotteries
We realize that many schools are facing challenges with holding and publicizing student lotteries. If you have not already conducted your lottery, please know that we are happy to host your lottery using our Zoom account, which supports multiple co-hosts and up to 500 attendees. If you would like help broadcasting your student lottery, please email us at membership@necharters.org.
Bright Spots
In this difficult time, we are working hard to spread positive news about how your schools are navigating this crisis. Please share your stories and we’ll gladly help shine a light on your work.
Here are some recent press highlights: :
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Brass City Charter School: Waterbury science teacher finds way to conduct virtual field trip
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Odyssey Community Schoool: The Bright Spot: Neighbors Helping Neighbors
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Common Ground: “Food Garage” Feeds Families During Covid
Lastly, as this situation is rapidly evolving, we encourage you to review the resources available on our COVID-19 Resources page. As always, please feel free to email or call us if you have any questions.