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Shannon Silver had planned to take her family on a trip from her home in Connecticut to visit relatives in Ohio just before the start of the school year for her two children. But she and her husband reversed course when people traveling from Ohio were added to a list of those who must quarantine for 14 days upon entering Connecticut. That requirement might have meant her 10-year-old son would miss the first day of sixth grade at St. Matthew School in Bristol. (Eaton-Robb and Catlalini, 8/17)

Nearly a third of 730 parents surveyed in early June about their back-to-school plans for their school-aged children amid the COVID-19 pandemic said they probably or definitely will choose distance learning over in-person instruction, according to a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics. While 31% of participants in the national convenience sample indicated they would keep their child home, 49% said they probably or definitely will opt for in-person school. Parents choosing remote learning tended to have lower incomes (38% with annual incomes less than $50,000 vs 21% with incomes of $100,000 to $150,000), be unemployed (40%, vs 26% employed), and had a flexible job schedule (33%, vs 19% with inflexible jobs). (Van Beusekom, 8/14)

Massachusetts school officials have reported dozens of families to state social workers for possible neglect charges because of issues related to their children’s participation in remote learning classes during the pandemic shutdown in the spring, according to interviews with parents, advocates, and reviews of documents. In most cases, lawyers and family advocates said, the referrals were made solely because students failed to log into class repeatedly. Most of the parents reported were mothers, and several did not have any previous involvement with social services. (Vazques Toness, 8/15)

Zita Robinson, who’s 77 and diabetic, has been careful around her granddaughter since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. A door connects Robinson’s apartment in Phoenix to the main house where 8-year-old Traris “Trary” Robinson-Newman and her mother live, but it mostly stays shut. Their only physical contact is if Trary walks in with her back toward Grandma. Then Robinson will kiss her own hand and lightly touch Trary’s back — “like I’m sending her a kiss with my hand.” (Tang, 8/15)

It’s the newest front in America’s parenting wars. Parents, forced to figure out how to care for and educate their children in a pandemic, are being judged and criticized on message boards and in backyard meet-ups and virtual P.T.A. meetings. If parents send their children to schools that reopen, are they endangering them and their teachers? If they keep them home, are they pulling support from schools and depriving their children? If they keep working while schools are closed, are they neglecting their children in a time of need? If they hire someone to help with remote school, are they widening achievement gaps and contributing to inequality? (Cain Miller, 8/13)

As heat waves rose from the crackling grass next to a cotton field that stretched far into the distance, Rick Porter watched his young football players struggle through a preseason practice. Under every helmet was a masked player, breathing deep amid the dust and stifling heat topping 100 degrees fahrenheit (38 degrees celsius). August in Texas can be cruel and the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a new set of obstacles in the way. (Vertuno, 8/16)

Oakland teachers would be required to work just over six hours each day — including at least 2½ hours of live instruction for the oldest students, according to a tentative agreement reached Wednesday morning between district administrators and labor officials. The tentative agreement comes five days into the new school year and, if approved by teachers and the school board, would dictate working conditions and other requirements during distance learning. (Tucker, 8/14)

Amid public alarm over the inadequacy of coronavirus testing across the nation, Los Angeles schools on Monday will begin a sweeping program to test hundreds of thousands of students and teachers as the nation’s second-largest school district goes back to school — online. The program, which will be rolled out over the next few months by the Los Angeles Unified School District, will administer tests to nearly 700,000 students and 75,000 employees as the district awaits permission from public health authorities to resume in-person instruction, said Austin Beutner, the district’s superintendent. (Hubler, 8/16)

White House adviser Jared Kushner said Sunday that he is not concerned about his young children returning to school during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Asked by CBS’s Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" whether he was sending his own children back to in-person classes, Kushner, who is President Trump's son-in-law, responded, "Absolutely." (Budryk, 8/16)

Because your child’s classroom this fall probably will be the dining room, it would be a good idea to send them outside before they start their school day. They’ll be primed to learn. In 2009, researchers found that as little as 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise at 60 percent of maximum heart rate improves academic performance in children — immediately. (Opipari, 8/15)