TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Saturday distance learning for K-12 students will continue through the remainder of the school year.
The previous story is below.
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In President Trump’s three-step plan to get the country moving again, phase two includes getting students back to school.
Given that timeline, some parents and teachers are asking why local school districts still haven’t made a formal policy decision yet about whether to stick with e-learning through the rest of the school year.
“We would like that to be announced,” said Rob Kriete, President of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.
Kriete says from their standpoint the state should stick with e-learning at least through the end of this school year.
“I think parents and the community agree that sending kids back in May would be, quite honestly, dangerous,” said Kriete. “And we don’t want to put them in harm’s way, as well as the health and safety of the teachers and support staff.”
But as of Friday, Florida still had not extended its e-learning order beyond May 1.
Just last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said they’d reconsider that date in due time.
“But I think most parents, if they’re confident we’re on the other side of this, and they are confident that it can be safe if they had that option, I think that they would choose to have them go back to school,” DeSantis said.
A WUSF poll taken this week found that might not be true.
Of the 600 responses, 80 percent said they would not feel safe about sending kids back to class the first week of May - which is projected to be Florida’s peak week for COVID-19. Only 16 percent said schools should reopen.
Several school districts around Tampa Bay say they are waiting for direction from the Florida Department of Education before making a decision.
This week, Hillsborough Superintendent Addison Davis said they’re prepared to do whatever the state decides -- e-learning or classrooms.
But, he conceded, “I think right now there could be a lot of angst if we or ask to come back. From our parents, from our employees. So, my hope is that we will make, there will be an informed decision, very soon from the Florida Department of education.”
Hillsborough says its schools have been deep-cleaned and are ready to reopen whether that’s in a couple of weeks, the fall, or whenever they’re given the all-clear.
On Friday, an email from the Florida Department of Education’s Deputy Director of Communications said:
“The safety and security of Florida’s students is our first priority. The Department has been diligently studying data from across the state, nation, and world, and working diligently with the CDC, Florida Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management. We have also collaborated and taken feedback from district superintendents, college presidents, teachers, parents and students across the state daily.
Currently, Florida school campuses will be closed through May 1, and we will continue to follow CDC guidelines, including social distancing guidelines, cleaning precautions, and best practices.”
DeSantis, who was asked about the president’s three-phase plan and its impact on Florida policy decisions, called it a “kind of baseline.”
“It doesn’t mean that we’re going to, Florida is going to, do every single thing they say or not say. But that’s a pretty good baseline,” he said.
“We still hope and we still believe that he will and should say that schools are going to continue with e-learning throughout the rest of the school year,” Kriete said. “Because that would make planning for the next six weeks a lot easier for teachers, school systems, families, students, going forward.”
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