Admin Info
Here is a growing list of resources for policy makers, admins, tech specialists, and other decision makers in school systems.
Click each section to expand
Articles From Government Sources
US Dept. of Education
Protecting Student Privacy: FERPA and the Coronavirus (March 12, 2020)
Questions and Answers on Providing Services to Children with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Outbreak (March 12, 2020)
Fact Sheet: Impact of COVID-19 on Assessments and Accountability under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (March 12, 2020)
CDC: Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019: Messages for parents, school staff, and others working with children
FERPA and COVID-19: The United States Department of Education issued the attached Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and COVID-19.
General Resources
These don't fit below or have several resources involved.
Chromebooks
Systems may consider checking out chrome books to students, or perhaps help them install it on older home computers.
Google's Chromebook info
Preparing Students to Learn From Home with Chromebooks: Google's COVID19 guide to using Chromebooks with homebound students.
Neverware
Install Chromium on older machines. Excerpt from NeverWare's website:
"Every day, more and more people are affected by COVID-19 - the coronavirus.
You likely saw that Google recently announced all G Suite for Education customers will receive free access to Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities through July 1st, 2020.
As countries around the world enact safety measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, many schools are using a combination of remote video conferencing and Google Classroom to facilitate distance learning, ensuring students can continue to learn even in the event of school closures.
That’s why we want to highlight how CloudReady can help:
Our free Home Edition for students:
If students have older laptops at home, our free CloudReady Home Edition can turn those devices into fast, secure Chrome devices in just minutes. The Home Edition is a full operating system designed to bring new life to older PCs and Macs. The only difference between the Home Edition and the Education Edition is management—the Education Edition enables centralized device management for administrators."
Visit https://www.neverware.com/freedownload to download CloudReady and follow the easy instructions to get it installed on obsolete and surplussed school or older home laptops! Only officially certified models are guaranteed to work with CloudReady, but many other models will work fine.
Free Tools for Your School District
Companies offering free access to a number of tools that may assist you during the next couple of weeks.
NOTE: ZOOM currently faces several security challenges. FDRESA does not recommend it for school systems at this time.
The Tech Director of one of our school systems has notified us that he is NOT recommending Zoom for his school system right now and we agree. These shortcomings may change in the future, so stay tuned.
Of course, you should make your own decisions based on your research and how Zoom is responding. We are just sharing our stance.
Lightspeed Systems - Lightspeed is offering free extended evaluations of Relay Filter and Relay Classroom through the end of the school year. Source
Cisco Webex - Cisco is offering free licenses for their WebEx video conference tool. Source
Adobe Creative Cloud - If you are a current Adobe customer, they announced they will offer free in-cloud access. Source
TeachTown - SLP Assist Help During School Closures
Checkpoint Software Technologies - Endpoint protection software for free, no strings attached, no commitment
Screencastify - Screen capturing software
Scam Alert
Watch out for these scams concerning COVID-19
Coronavirus Scam Alert: Watch out for these risky COVID-19 websites and emails
As coronavirus scams spread, here’s how to protect yourself: Hackers often seize trending online topics like coronavirus in scam emails
Coronavirus phishing emails: How to protect against COVID-19 scams
Internet Access for Home
Should schools close resulting in students having to "attend class" from home, there might be situations where the student does not have Internet access.
Personal hotspots on students' or parents' phone could be a solution if their data plan doesn't run out. Many providers also have contingency plans in place to provide solutions to such a scenario...
Verizon Wireless
Below is information from Verizon's partnership with Kajeet and their solution to assist with providing students with internet connectivity in the event of potential school closures.
"As concerns over the spread of the coronavirus continue to rise in the U.S., you may be evaluating your school or district’s response plan and taking concrete steps to make sure you are ready for execution.
A contingency plan that incorporates steps and resources for instructional continuity off-campus may help alleviate gaps in learning that may occur should a school disruption occur. Kajeet is a Verizon business partner that can provide SmartSpot® devices, 4G mobile hotspots that operate on the Verizon Wireless network
With Kajeet SmartSpots you will ensure that everyone has the connectivity they need to be online and focused on learning when off-campus with reliable, filtered broadband educational Internet should your district need to shift instruction off-campus.
Kajeet SmartSpot includes:
Preinstalled CIPA-compliant filters
Access to Kajeet Sentinel cloud portal
Time-of-day Controls
Real-time usage and data reporting
Today alone we have seen orders in the magnitude of 100s of devices that Districts are purchasing to get prepared for possible school closures. California and New York have placed significant orders and we see that this is just the beginning."
Here are the contact details should you need more information or wish to implement Kajeet's solution:
Kenneth Crook - E209B
Business Account Manager
Government and Education
118 Park of Commerce Drive, 102
Savannah, GA 31405
Mobile: 912-704-4404
kenneth.crook@verizonwireless.com
T-Mobile
We received the following from T-Mobile:
"EmpowerEd:
T-Mobile for the last few years has become the leader in student connectivity with our EmpowerED program. We have tens of thousands of students connected in Georgia, and Hundreds of thousands across the US. APS has 4500 students connected, GA Cyber Academy has 2000+ students connected, Marietta City Schools, New York City, Miami Day County etc. etc. Our EmpowerED program is a multi-million dollar funding program from T-Mobile where we partner with the school to provide connectivity for students. We give the school funding of up to $200 per student to cover hardware costs. We provide free static IP and CIPA compliant content filtering, heavily discounted unlimited internet, and we also provide a percentage of lines at no cost depending upon school need and approval. We ask that the school pay the remaining cost of the internet and manage the inventory and deployment to the students. We currently have a few special variations to the EmpowerED program to expedite service for schools in need at this time and help in this current uncertain climate. The remaining cost of the program the school would be responsible for comes out to roughly $15 a month for unlimited internet with the hardware covered with the T-Mobile funding. We also have a 2GB LTE internet plan with 3G speeds after 2GB and that comes out to under $10 a month with equipment provided by the T-Mobile funding."
Here are the contact details should you need more information:
Steven M. Anderson - T-Mobile for Government - Georgia
State Local - Public Safety - Education
Mobile: 404-617-1188
Steven.Anderson146@t-mobile.com