COVID-19 updates
Below are some highlights from the department and others on efforts to support districts during the pandemic.
Starting Well webpage updated regularly
The South Dakota Department of Education’s Starting Well webpage features a wide variety of guidance and resources, including a Parent Toolkit with information for families.
Re-imagining Remote Education in South Dakota: The ESF-REM Project
The South Dakota Department of Education has been awarded a Rethink K-12 Education Models Grant in the amount of $6,883,481 to support the state’s efforts to better serve students during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. This grant project aims to provide a comprehensive road map to successful learning so that students can learn at school, at home, or with blended learning approaches. For more information, go to the ESF-REM Project Website.
Zoom licenses available to educators free of charge
The South Dakota Department of Education has negotiated a three-year agreement at $7.50/per user annually with Zoom to provide licenses to K-12 teachers and school administrators, as those most directly responsible for providing instruction to students. DOE will be providing Zoom licenses free of charge for three years to any school that is interested in using Zoom for distance learning. Questions? Please visit with your technology coordinator and contact the K-12 Data Center at help@k12.sd.us.
FERPA Resources
The U.S. Department of Education Privacy Technical Assistance Center and Student Privacy Policy Office produced some resources for educators about COVID-19 and Virtual Learning. These resources include:
- A recorded webinar and slide deck that addresses 10 common scenarios and questions on FERPA
- FERPA and COVID-19 FAQs answer questions that school officials may have concerning the disclosure of personally identifiable information from students’ education records to outside entities when addressing COVID-19
- A list of FERPA and virtual learning related resources that districts may find useful, including the following:
- Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Requirements and Best Practices – This resource identifies applicable exceptions under FERPA, including the school official exception. This resource, while originally developed for online educational services, is also applicable for virtual learning tools and includes best practices for safeguarding student education records under FERPA.
- Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Model Terms of Service – This checklist is a helpful tool to evaluate online educational apps.
Some of these resources are posted on the Starting Well webpage.
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