The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency last week began delivering 298,000 masks to school districts for the state’s 66,000 public school teachers and other school staff.

Harvard and MIT were the first to contest the policy, but at least seven other federal suits had been filed by universities and states opposing the rule.

Under the 2020-21 calendar approved by the Shelby County Schools board, students and teachers will have a fall break in October and start the second semester in February instead of January. 

Several Lakeland parents and residents sent in statements supporting sending children back to the classroom this fall. 

They have until Saturday, July 18, to decide whether their children return to Shelby County Schools’ buildings or stay home to learn with the aid of a school-issued laptop or tablet.

Kids who go to school risk exposing themselves and others to COVID-19. But many kids who stay home are more vulnerable to adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.

SCS Superintendent Joris Ray said Memphis students will start the school year online if coronavirus hospitalizations and cases continue to surge. 

Experts say challenges for college presidents are monumental, including now to plan for whatever temporary turns out to be as fall classes approach.

The Shelby County Schools superintendent said on “Behind The Headlines” that the school system is ready with a flexible plan and two teams of teachers for each school – virtual teachers and in-person teachers. 

The program bolsters immigrant language skills, teaches civics and other lessons about living in the United States. 

Shelby County Schools’ plan addresses every aspect of the school day starting with bus rides and ending with after-school care and extracurricular activities. 

The endowment from the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis is the largest in LeMoyne-Owen College’s history.

Southwest Tennessee Community College plans to convert the closed Office Depot building near Downtown for its performing arts programs, for an array of student services, for a bit of retail to serve students and for a more prominent presence along busy Union Avenue.

The Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis is working to reduce poverty in the 38126 ZIP code, one of the poorest in the city. Booker T. Washington High School is at the center of the initiative.

Starting in August, Shelby County Schools plans to offer both online and in-person instruction for students — and parents can choose which option they want.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn announced the shutdown of the University of Memphis Confucius Institute, saying students of Chinese culture and language at U.S. colleges should be “alarmed that the Chinese government has infiltrated their institutions.”

Mayor Jim Strickland will consider the committee's recommendation that the Metal Museum be Rust Hall's future occupant. If he accepts it, the City Council would have final say.

For right now, U of M, Christian Brothers and Rhodes College all intend to have dorms open, classes in person and in some cases, online.

Tennessee’s charter schools sector has grown to 118 since a 2002 state law opened the door to the publicly funded, independently operated schools. Most are in Memphis. And its new overseeing body, the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Commission, is extending its search for an executive director.

Groups began lining up both for and against testing after Superintendent Joris Ray, who leads the state’s largest district in Memphis, said he would petition the education commissioner to drop the annual assessment known as TNReady in 2020-21.

As part of the package, Baptist will provide a virtual clinic to help people on campus who test positive know what care they need and when it is safe to return to the public sphere.

Shelby County Schools mostly relies on district-employed school resource officers as security staff. They do not carry guns but have pepper spray, the district said. 

The State Board of Education approved an emergency rule on Monday requiring districts and charter leaders to submit plans for how their school communities will teach students in 2020-21 while navigating the pandemic.

Superintendent Joris Ray’s lowest score was in his relationship with district staff, especially in implementing a “rigorous, accurate” employee evaluation system. 

Arlington Community Schools board members say farewell to retiring superintendent Tammy Mason, who wraps up her tenure at the end of this month.