Matzie: Nearly $47,000 in funding to ensure online learning for Freedom Area School District students

AMBRIDGE, Aug. 7 – A $46,900 grant to the Freedom Area School District will ensure students have the resources needed to access online and other remote learning, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, announced today.

Matzie said the funding – administered by the state Department of Education through the Continuity of Education and Equity Grant program – will ensure no student gets left behind when it comes to remote learning.

“While online learning can’t replace the benefits of actual classroom experience, it does offer an important way to keep our kids engaged and learning during the pandemic,” Matzie said.

“Unfortunately, lack of access to technology or the internet threatens to sideline some students. We can’t let that happen – access to good public education should never depend on a student’s ZIP code. This funding is going to help ensure every student – regardless of financial means – has the tools necessary to participate and thrive.

Grants under the CEEG program are designed to help provide access and inclusion for all learners by bridging the gap for students with limited ability to participate in continuity of education. The grants may be used to purchase computer equipment, such as laptops, tablets and internet hot spots, or used towards providing instructional materials, such as paper lessons and coursework.

Schools with the highest percentages of students lacking access to resources were given priority in receiving these grants.

US hiring slows amid signs of longer-lasting economic damage
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring slowed last month as the coronavirus outbreak worsened. That’s according to the government’s latest jobs report. The same report offered signs Friday that the economic damage from the pandemic could last far longer than many observers originally envisioned. The United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, a pullback from the previous two months. At any other time, hiring at that level would be seen as a blowout gain. But after employers shed a staggering 22 million jobs in March and April, much larger increases are needed to heal the job market.

House Majority Leader Benninghoff Urges PIAA to Stay the Course, Make Independent Stand from Wolf’s ‘Recommendation’

HARRISBURG – House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) urging the body to make an independent stand from Gov. Tom Wolf’s “strong recommendation” that interscholastic sports do not resume until January 2021 and stay the course with allowing fall sports to safely continue as previously planned.

“Like you, I was tremendously disappointed in Gov. Wolf’s intimidating ‘recommendation’ to cancel all recreational and interscholastic athletics until January of 2021. I am writing to remind you that this is not a mandate, and I am asking you to stand firm on your previous decision to continue with PIAA-sanctioned events during the fall athletic season. In taking this stand for our young people, you would have my support and the support of the majority of the General Assembly,” Benninghoff wrote in part.

 

“I understand that you feel enormous pressure from Gov. Wolf, who has often been punitive against those who have gone against him, and constrained by his recommendation. However, I want to remind you that what he laid out is, in fact, a recommendation, not a new law or executive mandate,” Benninghoff added. “PIAA is an independent association, and I, along with many Pennsylvanians, trust your previous commonsense decision to allow fall activities to safely continue so students can have even a degree of normalcy that they so desperately need and deserve.”

 

For more information, visit KerryBenninghoff.com or Facebook.com/RepBenninghoff.

Beaver County Career and Technology Center to receive nearly $120,000 to ensure safe operations

AMBRIDGE, Aug. 7 – The Beaver County Career and Technology Center is on track to receive $119,044 in federal funding to help the center implement safety plans for students and staff, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, announced today.

The funding comes from the CARES Act, which authorizes governors to determine the educational use of Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds.

“Our career and technical students are ready to get on with their lives, but the pandemic and related safety concerns have temporarily derailed education and career planning,” Matzie said. “Now, thanks to this funding, our talented young adults will soon be back on track for learning, and our area employers will be able to count on a continuing supply of well-trained applicants.”

The funds may be used for a variety of resources, including protective equipment, hand sanitizer/cleaning products; equipment or technology to take classrooms online; installation of barriers or other protective devices in building structures; and the purchase health apps to assist in contact tracing and monitoring of students.

The funding is part of a $10.2 million package allocated to career and technical schools throughout the state. The governor has allocated the money, and schools will be able to access the funds in the next week.

Grants were calculated based on the allocation formula for federal Perkins CTC grants, which takes into account the population of students ages 5-17 and the percent of poverty within the same age group. In addition, the formula includes a factor to account for a local education agency’s overall student enrollment in career and technical education programs.

A complete list of the funding statewide is available here.

(Hopewell Twp., Pa.)  Hopewell Township Police and the Beaver County Detectives  conducted an investigation  into the July 15, 2020 homicide death of Vincent Barbuto of Hopewell Township.  Through the investigation it was determined that Barbuto’s younger brother Michael Barbuto shot Vincent multiple times causing his death. Earlier this week Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier issued a warrant for the younger Barbuto after charging him with Criminal Homicide.  Michael Barbuto was taken into custody yesterday. He is charged with criminal homicide in the  death of his   brother.  Barbuto is lodged in the Beaver County jail with no  bail or bond  permitted by statute as the charge is criminal homicide, DA David J. Lozier said.