Rudd says the COVID vaccine should be added to the list that the state requires on all college campuses.

The most recent data available is from Aug. 13-19, the second week of school.

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Westwood High COVID-related death identified

The University of Memphis campus was teeming with activity Monday, Aug. 23, as students returned for in-person learning.

It is offering two hours of administrative leave, per dose, for faculty and staff not yet vaccinated.

A youth who died at Le Bonheur over the weekend has been identified as 16-year-old Westwood High student Azorean Tatum.

Last week, president M. David Rudd said he would pursue making shots necessary as soon as FDA lifted emergency-use approval.

Parents are expressing growing concerns about the safety of their children in schools. They want an option to send children back to school virtually.

Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allows students to opt out and attend classes without masks.

The Lab School is a private and independent micro-school which currently serves six students of mixed ages 4-6. The day-to-day learning environment sees educators teaching students topics such as problem-solving, critical thinking and communication, along with developing math, science and reasoning skills.

Schools saw COVID-19 even when universal masking was required. The numbers from the first week of school, prior to Gov. Bill Lee’s order, provide a baseline.

Some students at the University of Memphis are petitioning to make the hybrid model a permanent option for all courses. 

Memphians are not happy with Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates in schools. 

Five of the Shelby County suburban districts saw some of the top achievements in results for TCAP, the state-mandated testing.

SCS’ standardized testing data revealed the district’s weaknesses and gaps, widened by COVID-induced learning disruptions.

While other districts struggle with trying to appease parents over whether students should wear masks, Bartlett City Schools will continue to follow the direction of the county Health Department.

Collierville will enforce masking at its schools. Students who do not mask will be sent home.

For the first time since March 2020, all Shelby County Schools students were expected to return to in-person classes amid rising COVID-19 cases. 

Students who do not comply and do not qualify for an exemption are to be sent home.

Failed contract negotiations add to Head Start’s troubled local history, but advocates say that shouldn’t overshadow impressive pre-K advances.

Related story: 

How child care centers reveal pre-K’s future in Shelby County

Early childhood education advocates say access to high-quality child care is the next goal for more than 40,000 children under age 4.

Related story: 

What the SCS/Porter-Leath split means for the future of pre-K in Memphis

Here’s how some area colleges are handling vaccinations as students return to school for the fall. One is even paying students $1,000 to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Here, in a nutshell, is a definition of critical race theory and why people are talking about it. 

The Tennessee Department of Education is considering its rules for enforcing the state’s new law regulating discussions of race in the classroom. 

Related story: Critical race theory: An explainer