Coronavirus | Featured Stories

By Beth Stibal |

DeSantis Says Schools Should Open; PBC Prepares for Distance Learning

The Palm Beach County School District released new details on Thursday as to how the 2020-21 academic school year may look, one day after school board members reached a consensus to begin the year with online-only classes.

A spokesperson for the district sats that, unlike last March when teachers had just a few days to prepare and switch to distance learning, the district has had all summer to prepare for the possibility of virtual teaching with the new school year.

In addition, Justin Katz, the president of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association, says the district will give teachers professional development training over the next few weeks, in an effort to help them be better equipped for online teaching.

“There’s going to be a very rigid set of rules and working conditions that teachers will have to adhere to or face reprimand because that’s what we need to do to perform uniform high quality education,” Katz explains.

In addition, a spokesperson says the school district plans to distribute 82,000 more laptops to students and make WiFi more readily available throughout the district.

At Wednesday’s school board meeting, board members decided to start the 2020-21 academic year, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 10, with online-only classes.

A final vote will take place this Wednesday, July 15.

Board members also suggested the possibly of having teachers go into their classrooms several days a week to use their SMART Board and materials to teach children at home.

A vote on that suggestion is also set for Wednesday.

Following the final decisions, the school board will submit their plan to the Florida Department of Education for final approval.

Last week, the Florida’s Department of Education issued an order requiring public school districts to open campuses five days a week.

However, Palm Beach County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Donald Fennoy said the district has some flexibility with that order, as the district takes recommendations and advice from health leaders.

On Wednesday, President Trump said he wants schools to reopen nationwide in the fall, and threatened to cut federal funding if they fail to reopen.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that children should be learning in classrooms.

“Educating our kids is absolutely essential,” DeSantis said during a news conference at the Jacksonville Port Authority. “I have no doubt we can do this safely.”

WATCH GOVERNOR ON SCHOOLS:

Claiming that students statewide have suffered an “education gap” from online distance learning, the governor asked school districts to consider opening campuses right away for the 2020-21 academic year.

“I want our kids to be able to minimize this education gap that I think has developed,” DeSantis explained. “In spite of good efforts with the online, it’s just not the same. So I worry about that gap.”

The governor went on to say that he is concerned about the social impact that distance learning has on children.

“There’s something to be said for being in school, seeing people you know, growing up like a normal kid,” according to the governor.

He added that he would not hesitate to put his three children, who are not yet old enough to attend

According to Gov. DeSantis, exceptions should be made for students who have significant health issues, and that choice is up to parents.

“Different parents have different calculations. If a parent wants to opt for virtual education, they should absolutely be able to do that. We shouldn’t be forcing them to do any kind of decisions,” DeSantis said.

There are 232,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,009 deaths in Florida as of Thursday.

Palm Beach County has 18,656 cases and 578 deaths.