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tax credit scholarships

Education ChoiceFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipNewsParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsPrivate SchoolsSchool ChoiceStudent spotlightStudentsTax Credit ScholarshipsVoucher Left

A school choice scholarship changed this LGBTQ student’s life – and may have saved it

Ron Matus January 18, 2021
Ron Matus

 

Marquavis Wilson, right, attends West Park Prep in Hollywood, Florida. A Florida Tax Credit Scholarship allowed his mom, Lamisha Stephens, to send him to the LGBTQ-affirming faith-based private school after he was bulled at his district school for his sexual identity. PHOTO: Lance Rothstein

Editor’s note: To hear Lamisha Stephens and her son, Marquavis Wilson, tell the story in their own words, watch the video at the end of this post.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – In fourth and fifth grades, Marquavis Wilson was tormented because of his sexual identity. In public schools, he was taunted with repeated slurs, teased for how he walked and talked, told he was going to hell. His life was a blur of fights and suspensions. “I am not the type of gay boy who takes stuff,” Marquavis said. “I stuck up for myself.”

But the bullying and battling took a toll. Marquavis no longer wanted to go to school. His grades fell to D’s and F’s. He told his mom, Lamisha Stephens, he wanted to kill himself.

Stephens knew she had to make a change. First, she secured a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, a school choice scholarship for lower-income students. Then she enrolled Marquavis in West Park Preparatory School, a tiny, faith-based private school she concluded would be the safe haven he needed.

It was. Now 16 and in tenth grade, Marquavis is no longer fighting. His grades have improved to B’s and C’s. He’s thinking about college and careers.

He said the scholarship and the school changed his life.

His mom said they saved his life.

Lamisha Stephens. PHOTO: Lance Rothstein

“If Marquavis hadn’t come to this school,” said Stephens, a part-time supervisor at a delivery company, “he would probably be a dropout. Maybe in jail. Or he wouldn’t be here with us.”

“He would probably have taken his life,” she continued, “because he was tired of the bullying.”

Marquavis’s story reflects the tragic reality of hostility and intolerance for far too many LGBTQ students. At the same time, it offers a strong counterpoint to misleading narratives pushed by opponents of education choice. In Florida and other states, some religious schools have come under fire for policies adhering to their faith. But LGBTQ students themselves tell a more complicated story.

The most recent survey from the LGBTQ advocacy group GLSEN shows LGBTQ students in public district schools experience bullying, harassment and assault at higher rates than LGBTQ students in private religious schools. (For the details, go to survey page 119.) Given that backdrop, it’s no surprise that schools of choice aimed at LGBTQ students are springing up (see here, here and here), and that LGBTQ students are among those using – and in some cases, being saved by – education choice scholarships.

In Marquavis’s prior public schools, Stephens said she was having conferences with school officials every other week. Students weren’t the only problem.

At one point, a school security guard asked Marquavis if he had been molested, suggesting a link between molestation and sexual identity. “No,” Marquavis responded, “God made me this way.” Stephens complained to the principal. Eventually, she said, the guard was disciplined for inappropriate remarks.

Marquavis is athletic, confident, reflective, honest. His words sometimes roll out in torrents before he punctuates them with a “so” … or a “you know” … or, sometimes, a quick smile.

He said he was nervous when his mom told him he would be going to West Park Prep. The K-12 school is predominantly Black, with 110 students, nearly all of them on choice scholarships. He wondered if he’d have to fight there, too.

But his new classmates embraced him.

“On the first day,” Marquavis said, “all the kids were coming up to me. They were talking to me, asking what school I was from. They were friendly. All of them. It was unexpected.”

The school feels like a family, Marquavis said. The founder and principal, Jovan Rembert, encouraged him to be himself. He said no bullying or disrespect would be tolerated, ever.

“He was like, ‘Don’t let people get in your head,’ ” Marquavis said. “I told him about my past, and he said that’s not going to happen here. He kept his word.”

Marquavis found a safe space at West Park Prep that has allowed him to focus on being a student again.

Marquavis said there was only one incident involving his sexual identity at West Park. A new student called him a slur and was quickly suspended. The student apologized to Marquavis when he returned – and the two have been friends ever since.

Tragically, Rembert died in March, struck by a car when he went to check on an accident involving some of his students. But the warm, welcoming culture he established lives on, said teacher Billy Williams.

Last December, Williams said, Marquavis and other members of the dance team were set to rehearse for the holiday show when they veered into a little free-styling. Marquavis, comfortable among friends, poured his personality into a few new moves. “His body language and freedom of expression was so different,” said Williams, who worked in public schools 13 years before joining West Park full time. “But what was so magical was all the students embraced it. They hyped him up.”

The safe space allowed Marquavis to focus on being a student again. “He has more confidence in participating in group activities,” Williams said. “He’s more vocal. He speaks up. He asks questions.”

He’s thinking about the future, too. A diploma. Then college maybe. Then, maybe, a career in fashion.

Marquavis said without the scholarship and the new school, the fighting would have continued until he got expelled or dropped out. But West Park Prep won’t let him fail, he said.

“It’s like all love here,” he said. “It’s really all love.”

January 18, 2021 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsSchool Choice

Parents with power hold schools accountable, too

Special to redefinED January 11, 2021
Special to redefinED

Tamara Arrington’s son, Parker, attends a Florida private school with assistance from a Hope Scholarship, an education choice scholarship Florida lawmakers created in 2018 for bullied students.

Editor’s note: This commentary from Step Up For Students’ director of policy and public affairs Ron Matus first published on Florida Politics.

Tamara Arrington moved to the Suncoast after picking the perfect school for her son, Parker. But despite a stellar reputation and A grades from the state, it turned out to be a disaster.

One day when he was in first grade, Parker stood up to an older kid who called his friend a racial slur. For the rest of the year, the bullies pounced on him. Arrington said she sought help from school officials, but to no avail.

Parker spiraled down, hating school and getting headaches, until Arrington secured a Hope Scholarship, the state choice scholarship for victims of bullying. She used it to enroll Parker in a private school that she thought would be best for him — and now he’s safe and thriving.

“I have no doubt,” Arrington told me, “that every morning when I drop off my son at school, he’s going to come home a better human being.”

To continue reading, click here.

January 11, 2021 0 comment
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CourtsEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation LegislationFeaturedNewsParent EmpowermentParental ChoicePrivate SchoolsReligious Education

redefinED’s best of 2020: Supreme Court in Espinoza ruling opens door to state funding for religious schools

Patrick R. Gibbons December 28, 2020
Patrick R. Gibbons

Kendra Espinoza of Kalispell, Montana, lead plaintiff in the case, with her daughters Naomi and Sarah outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in January.

Editor’s note: During the holiday season, redefinED is reprising the “best of the best” from our 2020 archives. This post originally published June 30.

In a landmark decision today on school choice, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled  that the Montana Department of Revenue’s shutdown of a tax-credit scholarship program for low-income students is unconstitutional, potentially opening the door for states to enact such programs for students to attend private faith-based schools.

The court said in its 5-4 decision on Espinoza vs. the Montana Department of Revenue, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, that the Montana Department of Revenue cannot disqualify religious schools simply because of what they are.

“A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious,” the opinion said.

The ruling also stated:

“Drawing on ‘enduring American tradition,’ we have long recognized the rights of parents to direct ‘the religious upbringing’ of their children … Many parents exercise that right by sending their children to religious schools, a choice protected by the Constitution.”

Roberts was joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. Dissenting were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer.

“The Supreme Court delivered a major victory to parents who want to choose the best school for their children, including religious schools,” said Institute for Justice senior attorney Erica Smith, who was co-counsel on the case. “This is a landmark case in education that will allow states across the country to enact educational choice programs that give parents maximum educational options.”

Organizations that support education choice praised the decision.

“It’s a good news day for those who love the freedoms we enjoy in this country and seek to advance and preserve those freedoms,” said Leslie Hiner, leader of the Legal Defense & Education Center for the nonprofit advocacy group EdChoice. “Today the Supreme Court has re-affirmed its role as the guardians of our Constitution. The Montana Supreme Court has disregarded the U.S. Constitution, and in particular the First Amendment’s clause protecting our right to the Free Exercise of whatever faith we choose as individuals, when it struck down a modest school choice program that allowed parents to choose any school, religiously-affiliated or not, for their children’s education.”

The case started in 2015, when the Montana Legislature enacted a program that provided a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for taxpayers who donated to a Student Scholarship Organization. That meant a Montana resident could donate to a scholar organization, and in turn, would receive a tax credit for the donation.

The Student Scholarship Organization used the donated money to provide scholarships to students to attend private schools, including private schools affiliated with a religion.

Shortly after the program was enacted, the Montana Department of Revenue promulgated an administrative rule (“Rule 1”) prohibiting scholarship recipients from using their scholarships at religious schools, citing a provision of the state constitution that prohibits “direct or indirect” public funding of religiously affiliated educational programs.

Kendra Espinoza and the two other mothers filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the rule. The trial court determined that the scholarship program was constitutional without the rule and granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. On appeal, the Department of Revenue argued that the program is unconstitutional without Rule 1. The Montana Supreme Court agreed with the Department and reversed the lower court. 

At issue in the case are Blaine Amendments, also called “No Aid” clauses, which are provisions in 38 state constitutions, including Florida’s, that bar public aid to religious organizations. They get their name from James G. Blaine, a congressional representative and later senator and presidential nominee from Maine who unsuccessfully attempted to amend the U.S. constitution in 1875 to include “anti-aid” language onto the end of the first amendment. Where he failed at the federal level, many states inserted Blaine Amendments into their constitutions. As a result, Blaine Amendments frequently act as state-level barriers against school choice.

“I am thrilled that the courts ruled in favor of the Constitution and maintained a parent’s right to choose where their children go to school,” Espinoza said in a news release issued by the Institute for Justice. “For our family, this means we can continue to receive assistance that is a lifeline to our ability to stay at Stillwater. For so many other families across America, this will potentially mean changing lives and positively altering the future of thousands of children nationwide. What a wonderful victory.”

The win and the promise of continued scholarships is a significant boost to Espinoza, who has had to work multiple jobs, including cleaning houses and doing janitorial work, to afford her daughters’ tuition payments at a private Christian school in Kalispell.  Kendra transferred her two daughters to Stillwater Christian School after they struggled in their public school. Montana’s scholarship program has helped Kendra and families across the state keep their children in the school that works best for them.

“It’s been a century-and-a-half since the bigoted Blaine movement took root in state constitutions throughout the country,” IJ Senior Attorney Richard Komer, who argued the case before the Court said in the news release. “Today’s decision shows that it is never too late to correct an injustice, even one with as long and ignoble a pedigree as this one.”

Today’s decision will affect most of the 14 states that have strictly interpreted their state constitution Blaine Amendments to bar scholarships to children at religious schools. For decades, the creation and expansion of school choice programs have been inhibited by legislative concerns that they might conflict with state constitutions. Those concerns are now removed with today’s decision in Espinoza.

December 28, 2020 0 comment
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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

School choice reduces teen suicide, new study finds

Special to redefinED December 21, 2020
Special to redefinED

Elijah Robinson was relentlessly bullied in his district school because of his sexual identity but got back on track academically and emotionally thanks to a Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and a Jacksonville private school where he found a safe haven. PHOTO: Lance Rothstein

Editor’s note: This commentary by Brad Polumbo appeared Sunday in the Washington Examiner. You can learn more about Elijah Robinson, the student referenced in the commentary, here.

Elijah Robinson attempted suicide as a teenager. Why? Well, as a queer and mixed-race student, he faced vicious bullying in his public school.

Thanks to a Florida program, he was able to switch schools and attend a private Christian school where he did not face bullying or discrimination. Students at private schools are statistically less likely to have bullying problems. Robinson later concluded, “If I had stayed at my previous school … I honestly think I would have lost my life.”

A new study confirms that Robinson’s experience is not an outlier. It shows that alongside reopening schools, which science shows are not sources of significant coronavirus transmission, school choice policies can help heal the mental health crisis plaguing youth.

This is of crucial importance because adolescent suicide and mental health problems were already major issues before the coronavirus pandemic. Suicides among those aged 10 to 24 spiked 56% from 2007 to 2017, becoming the second-highest cause of death among teenagers and young adults.

Now, with lockdowns and school closures sapping away their social bonds and quality of life, we have witnessed a disturbing rise in suicide and mental health issues among young people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 1 in 4 young people contemplated suicide during a one-month period over the summer amid the first pandemic peak and harsh lockdowns.

School choice programs can help alleviate this pain and suffering by allowing more young people the educational opportunities that best fit their needs. These policies include the expansion of charter schools and tuition voucher programs that provide low-income families with money to attend private schools.

With those options, families don’t have to remain trapped into sending their child to the local public school by default. So, for students who face bullying or are not at schools that suit their needs, they can go elsewhere. Families who like their public schools and students who are succeeding there are, of course, free to choose to stay put.

The new study shows the benefit that choice brings to those who need it. Authored by the Reason Foundation’s Corey DeAngelis and economist Angela Dills, it provides empirical backing to the intuitive conclusion that school choice can reduce suicide among teenagers.

It concludes that “the estimated effect of a charter school law translates to about a 10% decrease in the suicide rate among 15 to 19-year-olds.” It also finds that 30-year-old adults who had attended private school were 2% less likely to report having a mental health condition.

Why? 

“It’s likely that private schools face stronger competitive pressures to provide a safer school environment and improve mental health if they want to remain open,” Dills explained. “Public schools, on the other hand, are more likely to be burdened with government regulations that make it difficult for them to control discipline policy and create strong school cultures.”

These results only supplement the evidence showing that school choice improves test scores and family satisfaction.

The lesson here goes beyond how school choice improves youth mental health, as important as that may be. This study offers yet another demonstration that public policies that embrace competition and choice will always outperform those that force one-size-fits-all solutions.

December 21, 2020 0 comment
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Education ChoiceFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipNewsParental ChoiceSchool Choice

Success of Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship makes Heritage Foundation’s list of top 8 “education choice wins” in 2020

redefinED staff December 18, 2020
redefinED staff

Launched in 2013, Piney Grove Boys Academy in Fort Lauderdale is one of roughly 2,000 private schools that participate in Florida’s array of choice scholarship programs, including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.

The enrollment of more than 100,000 participants in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program for the 2020-21 academic year garnered the No. 2 spot on the Heritage Foundation’s list of this year’s most important education choice stories.

The year-in-review piece points out that 100,008 Florida students were enrolled in the tax credit scholarship program according to the Florida Department of Education, making it the first school choice program to move beyond the 100,000 mark.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic presented new challenges for students and families, the foundation praised policymakers and families for responding quickly with innovative solutions that helped advance education choice.

You can view other stories on the foundation’s “best of” list at https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/8-education-choice-wins-2020.

December 18, 2020 0 comment
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Catholic SchoolsCoronavirus / COVID-19Education ChoiceFamily Empowerment ScholarshipFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipNewsParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsReligious EducationSchool ChoiceTax Credit Scholarships

Scholarships continue to be a lifeline for Catholic school families

Lisa Buie December 8, 2020
Lisa Buie

Eight-year-old Grace Peters, her sister, Stella, 5, and her brother, Colton, 6, attend San Jose Catholic School in Jacksonville on state scholarships.

While Catholic school enrollment in Florida declined for the second straight year, newly released figures showing an increase in the number of families using state scholarships to send their children to these schools may be the reason the schools escaped the precipitous declines plaguing Catholic schools nationwide.

Overall, scholarship use among Catholic school families increased by 2.1%. Preliminary figures on Catholic school enrollment released by the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops shows the number of students receiving the Family Empowerment Scholarship soaring from 1,787 in 2019 to 5,040 in 2020.

Florida Catholic school enrollment yearly comparison and growth over time

Florida Catholic school state scholarship figures 2018-2020

“Families are looking for more flexibility and access to diverse schooling options to keep their children safe and well educated during this pandemic,” said Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students, Florida’s largest K-12 scholarship organization and host of this blog. “That’s why we are seeing a surge in demand for scholarships, such as the Family Empowerment Scholarship.”

Tuthill added: “Education choice programs will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Families like having access to more learning options for their children.”

A significant amount of the growth in scholarships, Tuthill speculated, is due to parents of kindergarteners seeking a safer environment for their children during the pandemic while trying to maintain a high-quality education. The pandemic’s impact on family finances also may have played a role in scholarship growth, he said.

“I suspect there has been a lot of pressure on families who were private pay,” he said.

Count Joe Peters and his wife, Sarah, among those who felt that pressure. Peters, a 36-year-old father of four children ranging in age from 8 years to 18 months, lost his income when the pandemic wiped out the event planning and management business he co-owns. Though the family was able to make ends meet for a few months with income from events held before pandemic-forced cancellations, the threat of having to take their children out of San Jose Catholic School in Jacksonville, which they knew and loved, caused many sleepless nights.

“That was a trying time,” said Peters, who attended San Jose and graduated from Bishop Kenney Catholic High School in Jacksonville. The situation became so dire that the family considered moving to his father-in-law’s Alabama hometown so the kids could attend district schools there and still be near relatives.

“Just the thought of telling our kids they wouldn’t be able to return to a place they loved so much was heartbreaking,” Sarah Peters said. The idea of her young children having to move to a new town, adjust to new teachers and make new friends while everyone’s faces were covered with masks was “frightening to me,” she said.

Then a family member told the family about the Family Empowerment Scholarship program. They applied, and their children were awarded full scholarships for the 2020-21 school year.  

“It brought tears to our eyes,”  Joe Peters recalled. “That was such a relief knowing that our kids would not be put through any kind of drastic change during this global pandemic.”

Catholic school leaders such as Michael Barrett, associate for education for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, credit state scholarship programs for allowing Catholic schools to remain open, providing a high-quality, faith-based education for families dealing with pandemic-induced anxiety.

“The Family Empowerment Scholarship is a program true to its name,” Barrett said. “Even pre-pandemic, the rising costs of private school tuition coupled with increased costs of living often made it difficult for middle-income families to provide a Catholic education for multiple children.”

Barrett said his organization hopes state lawmakers will expand the Family Empowerment Scholarship to more students by eliminating the requirement that students in first through 12th grades first attend a district school to qualify for the program. (Because the Peters’ youngest child was entering kindergarten, the two older children were also eligible for Family Empowerment Scholarships, according to state rules.)

“Parents are the primary educators of their children and should have the opportunity to educate their children as they see fit,” he said.

Joe and Sarah Peters’ said they are relieved that at their three children to continue attending the school the family has always known and loved.

“We like the values that are being taught here,” Joe Peters said. “We know the community, and the community knows us.”

Peters also found his own lifeline at San Jose as a long-term substitute Spanish teacher and cross country/track coach.  

“I am talking to you from my desk at school,” he said. “I am beyond grateful.”

December 8, 2020 0 comment
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Education and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation ReportingFamily Empowerment ScholarshipFeaturedFlorida Tax Credit ScholarshipNewsPrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

Florida DOE releases numbers for state scholarship program

Patrick R. Gibbons December 4, 2020
Patrick R. Gibbons

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship enrollment by grade level, 2020-21


Official enrollment figures for the
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship are in. According to the September 2020 quarterly report, released this week by the Florida Department of Education, 100,008 students enrolled in the program for the 2020-21 school year.

The program, which relies on private corporate donations that receive 100 percent state tax credits, is available to low-income and working-class students in Florida. Approximately 74% of scholarship students are non-white, and 55% live in single-parent households. The average annual family income of scholarship students is about $33,000.

As with past years, the majority of students (58,535) are enrolled in grades K-5, where tuition costs are often the lowest.

This year, 1,899 private schools across 64 Florida counties enrolled students in the FTC program. Of those schools, 66% identified as a religious school. Miami-Dade County enrolled the most students – 23,344. Calhoun, Holmes and Union counties had no participating private schools, while Calhoun and Liberty counties had no participating students.

This year’s September enrollment figure is 22 students fewer than the September 2019 report (which was 100,030). At the same time, enrollment in a similar program, the Florida Empowerment Scholarship, has doubled. According to a Florida Department of Education spokesperson, the FES program increased from fewer than 18,000 students at the end of 2019-20, its first year, to 36,161 students this year. 

Like the FTC, the FES is geared toward low-income and working-class students. The FES is funded directly by the state and the household income threshold is roughly $10,000 higher. This year, a family of four could qualify for the FES program if its household income was lower than $78,600, whereas the FTC program caps eligibility at $68,120 for a family of four.

December 4, 2020 0 comment
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Coronavirus / COVID-19Education and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedNewsParental ChoicePrivate School ScholarshipsSchool Choice

State extends order allowing families to choose in person, online classes for second semester

Lisa Buie November 30, 2020
Lisa Buie

The new version of the state’s order requires private schools like Academy Prep in St. Petersburg to submit new plans for spring semester by Dec. 15.

Parents of students who receive scholarships to attend private schools can continue to exercise their option to have their children learn online this spring.

The Department of Education on Monday released a new emergency order for second semester that will allow private school students who choose online learning to keep their scholarships. State law currently requires all scholarship students to attend brick-and-mortar schools to keep their funding.

Schools would be expected to continue face-to-face classes, as the state previously required for families who want them.

“The message is schools are open,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference at Boggy Creek Elementary School in Kissimmee. “We are not going to abandon your child. We are not going to abandon you. We are still offering parents to make a choice.”

Extension of the waiver was good news for Gina Burkett, head of school at Academy Prep in St. Petersburg.

“I don’t know what 10% of our families would have done,” Burkett said.

The school, whose 140 students all receive state scholarships, opened 100% online in August after parents expressed a preference for remote learning to protect medically fragile family members and to provide a consistent learning platform for their children.

Burkett said about 20 students have opted to return to campus either because they were struggling with online learning or because their parents needed them to be supervised. The school has upgraded its air filtration system and adapted its multipurpose room to socially distance students. Burkett projects about 40% of her students will choose to continue online if COVID cases continue to climb in January as predicted.

The new version of the state’s order requires private schools to submit new plans for spring semester by Dec. 15. The schools also must monitor the progress of remote students and provide data to the state. Students who fall behind must return to campus unless their parents object.

That will give Burkett more time to welcome everyone back to campus for the fourth academic quarter in April, when COVID cases are expected to start declining and the government expands vaccine distribution. She plans to strictly comply with all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety guidelines. 

“Everybody is really ready to come back,” she said.

Nevertheless, Burkett said, the remote learning technology everyone had to adapt to almost overnight in the spring will continue to be useful and improve education overall.

“The equipment we bought will not be wasted,” she said. “We have a new way of learning.”

November 30, 2020 0 comment
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