LET
LET YOU
LET YOU KNOW RIGHT AWAY. >>> APPRECIATE IT, BEL.
LET'S GET BACK TO THE SHOW.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS
PRESENTED A TON OF CHALLENGES
AND UNKNOWN, AND TONIGHT WE
FOCUS ON HOW IT'S IMPACTED MANY
OF YOUR FAMILIES AND THE
SCHOOLS YOUR KIDS GO TO.
AND WHILE WE DON'T GET INTO THE
NUMBER OF CASES A LOT ON THIS
SHOW AS OF LATE, TONIGHT IT'S
WORTH REPORTING THAT THE UNITED
STATES HAS HIT A VERY
UNFORTUNATE BENCHMARK.
UNFORTUNATE BENCHMARK. MORE THAN 3 MILLION PEOPLE ARE
NOW REPORTED TO HAVE TESTED
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, AND
THERE ARE A LOT OF
CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING ON THE
LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL ABOUT
WHAT WE DO NEXT.
AND THE QUESTION OF IF OUR KIDS
AND TEACHERS ARE GOING BACK TO
SCHOOL IN THE FALL IS WHAT SO
MANY OF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT
FROM YOUR HOUSE TO THE WHITE
HOUSE.
HOUSE.
HOUSE. THE CDC HAD A WHOLE LIST OF
WHAT THEY THOUGHT SHOULD HAPPEN
IF KIDS WOULD GET BACK INTO A
SCHOOL THIS FALL, BUT THIS
WEEK, PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID HE
WASN'T ON BOARD WITH THE CDC
RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THAT HE
JUST WANTED KIDS, ALL KIDS,
BACK IN THE CLASSROOM.
SO NOW THE CDC IS APPARENTLY
MAKING A NEW SET OF
RECOMMENDATIONS.
RECOMMENDATIONS. NEW YORK CITY ANNOUNCED ITS
PLAN TODAY.
PLAN TODAY. THE MAYOR THERE SAID SCHOOLS
WILL REOPEN IN THE FALL WITH A
HYBRID APPROACH THAT INCLUDES
IN PERSON AND REMOTE LEARNING.
AND THEN HERE AT HOME, GOVERNOR
WALLS SAYS HE'S NOT CONFIDENT
ABOUT GETTING A LARGE NUMBER OF
SCHOOLS BACK TO SCHOOL THIS
FALL.
FALL.
FALL. AND
FALL. AND IT WAS THAT COMMENT FROM
GOVERNOR WALLS THAT LED ME TO
HAVE A CHAT THIS MORNING WITH
THE COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ASK
HER QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT SCHOOL
THIS FALL IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE
FOR THE NEARLY 900,000 STUDENTS
IN K THROUGH 12 IN THIS STATE.
EVERY
EVERY STUDENT, EVERY PARENT, AND EVERY PERSON THAT WORKS IN
OUR SCHOOLS REALLY JUST WANTS
TO KNOW.
TO KNOW.
TO KNOW. SO THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
IS IF WE'RE GOING BACK TO
SCHOOL IN THE FALL OR NOT.
>> THAT'S THE SORT OF QUESTION
WE'RE WORKING ALONGSIDE THE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ANSWER.
>> 19 DAYS FROM NOW,
JULY 27th, IS WHEN THE
COMMISSIONER SAYS THEY PLAN TO
GIVE THE PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA
THE ANSWER ABOUT WHAT SCHOOL
WILL BE THIS ALL.
WILL IT BE ALL FACE TO FACE
LEARNING?
LEARNING?
LEARNING? WILL IT BE SOME FACE TO FACE
LEARNING AND SOME ONLINE?
OR WILL IT BE ALL ONLINE?
>> WE UNDERSTAND THAT DIFFERENT
SCHOOL COMMUNITIES MAY NEED TO
BE IN DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AT
DIFFERENT TIMES DURING THE
SCHOOL YEAR.
SCHOOL YEAR. >> MEANING THIS WILL BE FLUID,
AND THE COMMISSIONER TOLD ME IT
WILL NOT BE A ONE SIZE FITS ALL
APPROACH.
APPROACH.
APPROACH. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE'S AN ALL
CLEAR IN SAY, ROCHESTER, AND A
FLARE UP IN ST. PAUL, THE
SCHOOLS IN THOSE AREAS SHOULD
BE ABLE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENT.
>> WHILE OUR GOAL IS HAVING
EVERYONE BACK FACE TO FACE IN A
SAFE ENVIRONMENT, WE UNDERSTAND
THERE ARE GOING TO BE SCHOOL
COMMUNITIES THAT NEED TO MAKE
THEIR OWN DECISION BECAUSE OF
THE WAY THE VIRUS IS IMPACTING
THEIR TOWN OR EVEN JUST ONE OF
THEIR SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
>> SO WHILE THAT COULD MEAN
MORE LEARNING IN PERSON FOR
SOME.
SOME.
SOME. >>
SOME. >> I DO WANT EVERY COMMUNITY IN
THE STATE OF MINNESOTA TO BE
PREPARED FOR WHAT A HYBRID
MODEL COULD LOOK LIKE AND WHAT
A DISTANCE MODEL COULD LOOK
LIKE BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO
BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD.
>> AND ABOUT THE DISTANCE
MODEL, THE COMMISSIONER SAYS
SHE KNOWS.
SHE KNOWS. IT WASN'T PERFECT IN THE SPRING
FOR EVERYONE.
FOR EVERYONE. SO I ASKED HER, HOW MANY OF THE
NEARLY 900,000 STUDENTS IN THIS
STATE DID DISTANCE LEARNING NOT
WORK FOR.
WORK FOR.
WORK FOR. >> ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID
THIS SPRING WORKING ALONGSIDE
OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITYS WAS
SURVEY THE STUDENT AND FOUND
OUT WE HAD ABOUT 25,000
STUDENTS WHO DID NOT HAVE
ACCESS TO A DEVICE OR DID NOT
HAVE ACCESS TO THAT SORT OF
CONNECTIVETY.
CONNECTIVETY. SO WE KNOW JUST RIGHT THERE AS
A PLACE TO START, THAT'S
FILLING IN THAT SORT OF GAP,
ADDRESSING THAT SORT OF
DISPARITY IS GOING TO BE ONE
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT STEP WE
TAKE GOING FORWARD.
>>
>> IT'S
>> IT'S A
>> IT'S A CRITICAL STEP. BECAUSE EVEN IF 25,000 STUDENTS
IS JUST UNDER 3% OF