Schools drop online learning firms
Just three days into using it, the Westerville school district has dropped the third-party program used in its Westerville Virtual Academy for elementary students.
The move follows a similar shift in Upper Arlington, where administrators announced last week that they also planned to cut ties with a different online learning platform at the elementaryschool level.
Both programs were used only by families that chose to commit to online learning for an entire semester, regardless of whether students return to school buildings.
Families of students in grades K-5 who were using Westerville’s program, Calvert Learning, were told Friday to stop because of concerns about the quality of its content.
The district is considering several new options, and details will be shared with families as quickly as possible, spokeswoman Charlie Boss said.
“It wasn’t meeting expectations of what we were promised,” Boss said.
In addition to concerns among parents about the curriculum, employees had issues receiving timely communications from the company, she said.
The district spent $553,545 for Calvert Learning, a product of Edmentum, an education company based in Bloomington, Minnesota, Boss said. It’s not yet clear whether a refund will be possible.
Meanwhile, the program used in Upper Arlington schools, Acellus, has drawn criticism nationwide after families alleged that it contained racist and sexually suggestive material. Several schools have since ended contracts with the Kansas City-based company.
The global coronavirus pandemic hasn’t slowed drug crimes involving central Ohioans or overdose deaths in the Columbus area. On the contrary.
“The drugs come from Mexico directly to Columbus,” said U.S. Attorney David Devillers, whose office covers the Southern District of Ohio. “It’s like a spoke; it goes out from here.”
Dr. Anahi M. Ortiz, the Franklin County coroner, said overdose deaths were up 65% through the first half of 2020 and are headed toward a record.
According to preliminary statistics released by the coroner’s office this year, 597 people died from overdoses in 2019, a 14% increase over the previous year.
The death toll this year could easily reach 700, Ortiz said, noting a big increase in autopsies.
“Last year, we were seeing one or two per day, people with signs of overdoses,” she said. “We’ve been seeing more like three or four a day” in 2020.
This week, on International Overdose Awareness Day, the coroner’s office on Frank Road southwest of Downtown played host to an event that provided free Narcan kits, fentanyl test strips and other giveaways. The facility that receives the bodies of those suspected of overdosing handed out overdose-reversing drugs with hopes of educating the community on the dangers users face.
“Many of these folks were in recovery and have relapsed … it’s been devastating to people,” Ortiz said, noting the impact of isolation and stresses caused by COVID-19.
Fentanyl is a main culprit driving the increases in deaths. The powerful synthetic painkiller, typically used in anesthesia to treat patients with extreme pain or to manage pain after surgery, is being mixed with heroin, cocaine and other drugs.
In some cases, users are taking it straight. In other cases, those addicted to drugs think they’re buying heroin, cocaine or prescription painkillers off the street, but they’re actually getting fentanyl.
“It’s popping fentanyl, and if you’re not used to it and there’s too much of it, you’re going to die,” Devillers said.
A kilogram of fentanyl, about 2.2 pounds, is the equivalent of 100 kilos of heroin, Devillers said. As a result, it’s easier to smuggle into the country. Federal officials continue efforts to disrupt supplies, and Devillers said there’s also an increasing focus on stopping people from using drugs that first time and becoming addicted.
Devillers said his office works daily with prosecutors in other states to identify and arrest those who are dealing drugs or are involved in related crimes, including the sale or trade of guns.
Drug dealers from central Ohio, and those from the Cleveland and Akron areas, are active in trafficking in West Virginia and elsewhere.
Powell said investigators made a concerted effort to crack down on illegal drug activities in Wheeling Island just over the Ohio line.
“It wasn’t hidden,” Powell said. “It was blatant, out-in-the-open type of distribution. … (We’ve) noticed a significant improvement in some of these neighborhoods. Whether (the drug dealers) come back in one form or another, we’ll see.” mkovac@dispatch.com @Ohiocapitalblog