MDE COVID-19 Guidance to Districts as of May 21, 2020

CDC: CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCHOOLS – Released May 19, 2020 
As some communities in the United States open K-12 schools, 
CDC offers the following considerations for ways in which schools can help protect students, teachers, administrators, and staff and slow the spread of COVID-19.  

 CDC INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOLS AND DAY CAMPS – Released May 17, 2020  
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted 
more detailed interim guidance on the reopening of physical child care programs and schools and day camps. This guidance is meant to supplement the decision tools CDC released on May 14, 2020. It lists specific practices that employers may find helpful at particular stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

 CARES Act Equitable Services 
The CARES Act Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF) will provide financial assistance to each Mississippi school district to help address the numerous challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic…. 

 MDE Webinar: Summer Learning Guidance and Professional Development 
The MDE will host a webinar for district and school administrators to provide guidance on summer learning recommendations. This session will offer resources and suggestions to districts about virtual summer learning… 

 2020 Census Update 
The national average for self-response for the 2020 Census as of May 19, 2020 is 59.7%. The response rate for Mississippi is 55.2%.  You can view the… 

  Do You Have Questions for MDE?  
Please check the 
MDE COVID-19 Information webpage before emailing your questions to MDE staff. The answers to most of the questions we receive are addressed on the webpage. We also regularly add guidance, answers to new questions and links to our daily update email on this webpage. Daily updates are posted in the Administrator News section of the EdUpdate. 

 The Educator Licensure Call Center will be open every Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., until further notice. You may reach a licensure team member at 601-359-3483. Due to the anticipated high volume of calls, we encourage you to continue to visit the Educator Licensure section of www.mdek12.org/covid19 and www.mdek12.org/licensure before calling the office or emailing questions to the teachersuppoort@mdek12.org email address. Answers to most questions we receive are addressed on those webpages. 

 Announcements from all previous email updates are posted in the Administrator News section of the EdUpdate.