If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown...

...colleges are testing it for the coronavirus. Elissa Nadworny/NPR Twice a week, mathematics professor Andrea Bruder squats in the sewage tunnels below South Hall, a mostly freshman dorm at Colorado College. She wears head-to-toe protective gear and holds a plastic ladle in one hand and a to-go coffee cup in the other. Bruder hovers above an opening in a large metal pipe and patiently waits for a student to flush. That flush will flood the pipes with just enough water to carry human waste down to her ladle, then to her coffee cup and eventually to a lab for processing. According to an analysis by NPR, Bruder's small private college in Colorado Springs is one of more than 65 U.S. colleges testing wastewater in an effort to monitor coronavirus spread. And that number is growing. People who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, shed virus particles through their feces when they go to the bathroom. Wastewater monitoring provides an early opportunity to catch the virus because it can detect an infection days before respiratory symptoms show up, and even if they never show up at all in the case of asymptomatic individuals. Dorm wastewater offers an ideal testing scenario for colleges: People often poop where they live; researchers know exactly who lives in each dorm, which narrows down who could be infected; and testing wastewater is cheaper than regularly testing students, even when followed up by more targeting screening. [Read More Here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- On to the news... Schools face budget cuts as new costs arise. Schools are spending big — on hand sanitizer, facility cleaning, laptops and internet hotspots — while facing state budget cuts between 15% and 20%. [Read more here.]( — [Cory Turner,]( NPR Ed Correspondent & Senior Editor Virginia Military Institute superintendent steps down amid claims of “structural racism.” One week after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam opened an investigation into systemic racism at the public college, the school's superintendent has submitted his resignation. The call for an investigation came after reports surfaced that Black cadets continue to experience racism more than 50 years after the institute became the last four-year public college in the state to accept Black students. [Read more here.]( — [Matthew S. Schwartz]( NPR News Desk Reporter COVID-19 has robbed the world’s poorest children of nearly 4 months of schooling. A new report from UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank finds the return to learning has been much slower in the world's poorer countries. [Read more here.]( —[Anya Kamenetz]( NPR Ed Education Correspondent And before you go, a bit of hope... Chris Dillmann/AP One New Jersey school district is keeping the magic of snow days alive, even for virtual learners. “We have decided that few childhood acts remain unchanged due to COVID-19 and we will maintain the hope of children by calling actual snow days due to inclement weather,” Mahwah Township Public Schools said in a statement this week. [Read more here.]( See you next week. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]