COVID-19 Impacts

KIDS COUNT, an annual child wellness report, found 20% of students in Missouri and 27% of students in Kansas were chronically absent in 2021-2022.

For many in the Class of 2024, this year's commencement ceremony will be a first. That’s because they’re also the Class of 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic canceled — or dramatically scaled back — their high school ceremonies.

Illinois advocates have continued calls to speed up contributions to new Illinois schools funding formula.

St. Clair County Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Eichenlaub will retire at the end of the month after 36 years of work in public education.

Four Metro East school districts are using the Illinois Tutoring Initiative. The program, funded with state ARPA money, trains tutors to help elementary and middle school students make up for pandemic learning loss.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis debuts ‘Harvey Milk,’ ‘Awakenings’

In the greater St. Louis region, Southern Illinois University will help coordinate part of a statewide effort to provide tutors for students in districts that were highly affected by the pandemic.

The session was originally scheduled to start this week with three meeting days, but leaders announced last week they will meet only one day this week and likely will cancel all in-person meetings the following week, Jan. 11-13.

Nearly 85% of all coronavirus-related hospitalizations across the state are unvaccinated individuals.

It was common knowledge in the nursing home business, but perhaps not to the families trusting those facilities with a loved one’s care.