CLEVELAND — Ohio students who may have fallen behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020/2021 school year may have the option of attending classes in person this summer.
That is according to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. The governor made the comments Friday during a City Club of Cleveland Forum where he was interviewed by former 3News Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres.
"Should a lot of students expect to be in school this summer?" Beres asked.
"I think that's a discussion that yes, has to take place with the schools. These kids have to get caught up somehow," Gov. DeWine replied.
This isn't the first time the governor has made this suggestion. He originally suggested schools plan for extra days at the end of the school year, or classes during the summer, back in February.
Many schools opted to begin the 2020/2021 school year virtually, or in some sort of hybrid learning system. Most of Ohio's school districts returned to fully in-person learning in March.
Back in February, Gov. DeWine also suggested tutoring, summer program enrichment, or remote options as other possibilities for students who may have fallen behind.
Gov. Dewine previously requested all school districts in the state have their plans to catch students up ready for their communities and the Ohio General Assembly by April 1.
To help pay for this initiative, Congress passed a bill in December to provide $2 billion in additional funding for Ohio's schools. The federal government also recently earmarked $5 billion in funding for the state, some of which will go to school districts.
"A lot of money coming into the state of Ohio. A lot of money coming into our schools, as well, which is going to be, I think, a real opportunity for schools, and for local communities and for the state, to look at this and say, 'how do we catch kids back up?'" Gov. DeWine said Friday. "Because we have some schools, our urban schools primarily, where kids have been out of school for eleven months...So how do we catch kids up is a debate that we're going to have to have."
You can watch the entire City Club of Cleveland conversation between Tom Beres and Gov. DeWine in the player below.