By Erin Petenko and Lola Duffort/VTDigger It isn’t Labor Day yet, but some back-to-school districts are already reporting back-to-school Covid-19 cases.  Four schools — Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury, Summit Street School in Essex Junction, Shoreham Elementary School and St. Albans Town Education Center — have announced Covid-19 cases among students or staff. A…

Back-to-school shopping sales have long been indicators that the summer vacation season is coming to a close. Students and their parents may visit area stores or browse online looking for items to make the coming school year a success. Those lists have looked similar for decades, but shopping for school supplies in the pandemic era…

Staff report At the Windsor Central Supervisory Union (WCSU) board meeting on Aug. 16, the board mandated that WCSU adhere to the Agency of Education Covid-19 Advisory Memorandum, which requires mask wearing until 80% of eligible students are vaccinated. This means that all students and staff will be wearing masks at the start of school, according to…

By Curt Peterson School district administrators are normally under pressure as opening day roars toward them like a freight train. Picture General George Washington astride his white horse, circulating among shivering troops before the Battle of Trenton, discussing strategy, boosting morale, everything at stake. That kind of pressure. Add the reemergence of Covid in Vermont,…

Gov. Scott announced vaccine requirement for more state employees and expanded school surveillance testing By Ethan Weinstein The Governor did not issue new guidance or restrictions in his weekly Tuesday press conference even as schools deal with Covid cases in their first week since opening. Scott did, however, announce a vaccine mandate for state employees…

Delta cases in children are making it worse By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger Laura Derrendinger cared for patients with measles and cholera in war-torn countries, but the scenario that scares her the most is much closer to home. She’s lived the nightmare several times in recent years. Her 5-year-old, Pascal, gets hypoxic (faces inadequate levels of oxygen)…

By Curt Peterson The Windsor Central Unified Union School District convened a special board meeting Monday night, still on a “hybrid” regimen — about half the participants were present in the Middle School library, while the other half attended remotely via Zoom. The formula worked, although Chair Bryce Sammel (Barnard) had to wait 18 minutes…

By The Boston Globe MYTH: The Covid-19 vaccines were developed too fast to be safe. FACTS: It’s understandable that people would have this concern. The vaccines were rolled out in record time, two of them using a novel technology. The government entity that led the effort was even called “Operation Warp Speed.” But in reality,…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Unlike earlier this summer when daily Vermont Covid cases were declining and often in the single numbers, they are now significantly up due to the more contagious Delta variant. Last Friday, there were 88 new cases despite over 84% of Vermonters aged 12 and older having at least their first vaccine…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger When Gov. Phil Scott’s administration announced new Covid-19 guidance for K-12 schools on Tuesday, Aug. 3, it did so with an important caveat. The state’s recommendations — including around masking — were not themselves requirements. With the state of emergency no longer in effect, officials said they would need to rely on…

By Ethan Weinstein and Erin Petenko/VTDigger On Tuesday, Aug. 10, Governor Phil Scott announced that Vermont will require state employees at prisons, psychiatric facilities, and the Vermont Veterans’ Home to get vaccinated against Covid or face additional restrictions. Though the details are yet to be worked out, the mandate will not be “forced,” meaning employees…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger The Vermont State Colleges System’s three residential schools will require students to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before coming on campus this fall, regardless of whether federal regulators have granted full approval for the shots. College officials at Castleton University, Vermont Technical College and Northern Vermont University had earlier announced that they would require student…

By Curt Peterson Windsor Central Unified School District superintendent Sherry Sousa told the Mountain Times last week that protocols for reopening are still up in the air, presumably due to the recent upsurge in Covid cases across the country. “The Agency of Education [AoE] and Dept. of Health will be providing us with guidance regarding…

By Riley Robinson/VTDigger On July 15, most Vermont parents will begin to receive a new monthly payment from the federal government, as part of the Covid-19 relief signed into law in March. This new monthly payment system is a revision to the existing child tax credit, which was first enacted in 1997. Usually, parents have received…

Eligible and unvaccinated drops below 1,000 By Hannah Laga Abram Covid-19 may have put our lives on hold, but we sure are ahead of schedule getting back to them.  Gov. Phil Scott’s Vermont Forward Plan, which the state has been following since early this spring, looked toward July 4 as an optimistic reopening date. Instead,…