TDOE Releases 4th Set in Series of School Reopening Toolkits and Guidance to Support Local School District Plans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Thursday, June 18, 2020 

 
MEDIA CONTACT: Victoria Robinson 

EMAIL: EDU.MediaInquiries@tn.gov 

 

TDOE Releases 4th Set in Series of School Reopening Toolkits and Guidance to Support Local School District Plans

Department Provides Additional Topic-Specific Resources in Series of 20+ Reopening Toolkits

 

NASHVILLE, TN— Today, the Tennessee Department of Education released the 4th set of school reopening toolkits in a series of over 20 resources to provide districts with considerations and guidance as they locally decide the best course of action for the fall. 

This series of reopening toolkits and guidance is intended to help district leaders dive deeper into considerations, recommendations, and best practices for the upcoming school year.

“We are encouraged by the feedback we have received statewide from district and school leaders in response to our school reopening toolkits and guidance, and we will continue to partner with our districts as they prepare for the fall and make local decisions on how to best serve their students,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn.

Today, the following four toolkits are now available for district use:

• Staffing: This toolkit will layout considerations related to human resources, staffing decisions and ideas to create an inclusive environment for all school and district staff.
• Professional Development: This toolkit highlights the need for training, professional development sessions, and ongoing support for educators to prepare for the reopening of school and adapt their practices to meet the needs of new, unique learning environments.
• Assessing Student Learning: This toolkit is designed to help Tennessee districts create strong district-level plans for measuring student learning during these unique times and to adjust instructional practices to effectively and efficiently support ongoing learning.
• Governance: This toolkit is intended to highlight those areas most closely related to governance questions, considerations, and needs in our local districts.

The department will update the toolkits as needed after release to reflect district best practices and findings. The first three sets of toolkits were released earlier this week and the additional toolkits will be released following this schedule:

Monday, June 15, 2020

• School Nutrition
• Transportation
• Special Populations
• Finance
• Implementation Guide Templates:
  • Tennessee Department of Education Pathway Selection Tool
  • 2020-21 School Calendar Template

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

• Technology
• Wellbeing & Mental Health
• Counseling
• Early Childhood
• Consolidated Funding

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

• Academics
• Charter Schools
• Nonpublic Schools
• Access & Opportunity
• Postsecondary Transitions

Friday, June 19, 2020

• Health & Public Health
• School Improvement
• Safety & Operations
• Procedures and videos

Monday, June22, 2020

• Continued Learning Plans, Template, and Example
• Expanded Planning Tool

The department released an Overview Guide for LEAs last week, which provides broad considerations and questions for districts as each seeks to make the best local decisions for the upcoming school year.

The reopening toolkits, along with other guidance documents and resources, are available to schools and districts on the Tennessee Department of Education’s reopening guidance webpage: https://www.tn.gov/education/health-and-safety/update-on-coronavirus/reopening-guidance.html. 

For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.  

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