Schools

School boards, superintendents, and teachers unions have called for the tests to be canceled this year. They say administering the tests represents major logistical challenges, including calling back computers that students are using for remote learning, and would take away from instructional time without providing valid data.

Colorado funds its schools on a per-pupil basis, and lawmakers could have held back millions promised to schools after the October student tally recorded nearly 30,000 fewer students this year, a 3% decline.  Instead, Colorado lawmakers said they would maintain school funding in recognition that schools have incurred additional costs to educate students in a pandemic.

The lab visited Longmont Estates Elementary this morning and will head to Timberline PK-8 from 1 to 3 p.m. today. The stops are just two of those planned over the next three months at all of the district’s elementary schools.

This year there’s a good chance a big chunk of students will opt out of the exams, among other potential changes. Experts say that means the tests likely won’t be able to offer the kind of complete or comparable data policymakers rely on in a typical year. 

As of Tuesday, 94% of teachers and staff had received or had the opportunity to schedule a vaccination appointment. 

SVVSD on Tuesday announced to parents and teachers that students will return to in-person school four days a week beginning March 29, the first school day after spring break, which is March 22-26. 

States must administer federally required standardized tests this year, but schools won’t be held accountable for the results — and that states could give shorter, remote, or delayed versions of the exams. 

Opponents of testing this year — which include many superintendents and school boards as well as the state’s largest teachers union — say that testing amid an ongoing pandemic presents numerous logistical challenges and would take away from precious instructional time, without yielding valid results. Many education advocacy groups, meanwhile, say that standardized tests could provide invaluable information for assessing learning loss and help direct resources to students who need the most help.

After a year of disrupted learning brought on by COVID-19, educators, foundations and nonprofit partners across the state joined in signing a letter to Gov. Jared Polis, legislators and leaders of the state education and human services departments urging them to fund programs for a “for a relationship-rich, learning-infused summer."

Around 200 teachers vaccinated at Longmont United Hospital clinic.