Reopen schools in fall, report urges: K-12 schools and colleges should reopen in the fall, the Re-Open Florida Task Force recommended in a 35-page report released Thursday. The task force report agreed with education officials who have pushed for a return to schools to both ease the strain on working parents and protect colleges from steep enrollment drops. Details on how to make it work are in the hands of the Florida Department of Education and college officials, the task force said, though it did recommend that schools gear up this summer to help students who have fallen behind. Among the other recommendations: have preschool workers wear masks and other protective equipment, and have their temperatures checked daily. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. WESH. WBBH. The CDC has drafted a 17-page document that sets out its recommendations for schools to reopen safely. Among them: spacing out students, avoiding mixing different groups of children, having students eat in classrooms instead of cafeterias, and avoiding non-essential assemblies and field trips. CNN. Even if the state gives the okay to reopen K-12 schools in the fall, the Duval County School District might not be able to do so. “If we are talking about getting physically in our buildings serving students the normal school schedule, I am not sure we will be able to do that at the very beginning of the school year,” said Superintendent Diana Greene. “It will be a slow process getting back to 100 percent face-to-face-instruction.” WJAX. Florida Times-Union. WTLV.
School board meetings: Florida school boards and other government agencies can continue to meet remotely through the first phase of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to reopen the state for business. According to Florida laws, government meetings must take place in person, but DeSantis suspended that requirement in March because of the pandemic. That order continues through May 8. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics.
Graduation plans: The Hernando County School District is planning a series of events to honor graduating high school seniors, hopefully culminating in late summer, traditional commencement ceremonies. Virtual ceremonies are the backup plan. Tampa Bay Times. WTSP. Martin County school officials said in-person graduation ceremonies will be held sometime in July. Exact dates will be announced later. The decision was announced after a survey showed that high school seniors overwhelmingly wanted the graduation to be more “traditional.” TCPalm. WPTV. Marion County School Board members will be presented with two options for in-person high school graduation ceremonies: May 28-June 8, or June 12-22. The backup dates are July 13-21. Ocala Star-Banner.
More on the coronavirus: Some U.S. teachers without Internet service at home are working in their cars or in their empty classrooms to provide online instruction. Education Week. St. Johns County school officials said no extra days will be added to the academic year, and school will end as scheduled May 27. St. Augustine Record. Shuttered schools have given school districts more time to offer training to noninstructional employees. TCPalm. A summer learning/activity program, called Bay Base, begins June 1 for Bay County students. The number of students accepted will be limited so the district can stay within federal guidelines. Panama City News Herald. Sixteen students make up the tech team at Hammocks Middle School in Miami, helping students and teachers having problems with their laptops, tablets and programs used for distance learning. CNN. The Alachua County School District is equipping school buses with wifi hot spots that will be parked in select neighborhoods for three hours each weekday so students can use to download online assignments. WCJB. The Education Foundation of Palm Beach County is distributing more than 1,000 “Kits for Kids,” which contain materials students need for online learning but may not have access to. WPTV.
District rezoning: Pasco County School Board members will consider a school boundaries rezoning proposal at their meeting Tuesday. The plan will reassign students from Hudson Elementary School, which is being closed after this academic year, and also will affect students now attending Northwest, Fox Hollow and Gulf Highlands elementary schools. Tampa Bay Times.
Survey says no to K-8 school: A survey shows that most families and community members at Ortona and Osceola elementary schools prefer to see a new elementary school built on the beach side of Volusia County instead of the combined K-8 school board members prefer. Several board members said they believe the survey results would change if members of the community had more information, and said they would be keep pushing for the K-8 solution. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Personnel news: Kelly Andrews, the executive director of Doctors Charter School of Miami Shores, has been named director of the Indiana Principal Leadership Institute. Tribune-Star. Tennille Wallace, a principal at South Daytona Elementary School in Volusia County, is one of three finalists for the Ouray, Colo., school district’s vacant superintendent and principal position. Ouray County Plaindealer. Father John Belmonte has been named superintendent of Catholic education for the Diocese of Venice in Florida. Belmonte has been superintendent for the Diocese of Joliet, Ill. He begins July 1, replacing interim superintendent Ben Hopper. Cape Coral Daily Breeze.
Union election: Pasco teachers union president Don Peace has been re-elected to a second term, defeating Lisa Mazza by 74 votes out of 920 cast. Peace won the presidency three years ago by defeating Kenny Blankenship, who won the secretary/treasurer’s job in this election. Tampa Bay Times.
Gym to be demolished: The old gymnasium at Rutherford High School in Bay County, damaged in Hurricane Michael in 2018, will be torn down in two weeks. The school board approved spending $74,148 for the demolition. Panama City News Herald.
Spending questioned: Hillsborough County School Board member Tamara Shamburger is now questioning the $1.66 million the board is being asked to approve for a new track at Sligh Middle School, and who will get to use it. “Our most marginalized and disenfranchised students and communities have been barred from using it,” she said. “Why are the rules always different for us? We must all demand accountability and equitable access!” Gradebook.
Racist video prompts note: A Leon County student will be disciplined after posting a video to social media in which she uses racial slurs. Lawton Chiles High School principal Joseph Burgess notified school parents by email, and asked them “to have conversations with your children about their character and their choices, no matter their age.” Tallahassee Democrat.
Opinions on schools: Reform in pursuit of choice for the poor may, in many states, entail political earthquake in order to become reality. However, that reality excuses none of us from rejecting this nation’s indefensible and degrading treatment of families lacking the resources that the rest of us carefully display in the parental hope to realize the latent capacities and vision of our descendants. John E. Coons, redefinED. The coronavirus pandemic presents an opportunity for school districts to strengthen their teacher pool. Here are four ways they can do that. Chad Aldeman and Lauren Dachille, The 74. Federal leadership and state and local buy-in will be needed to flatten the learning loss curve when schools reopen. Robin Lake, The 74. Here are things we can do to keep this crisis from digging even wider educational divides. Jawan Brown-Alexander, Education Post.
Student enrichment: The Immokalee Foundation has received a $558,000 grant from the Naples Children & Education Foundation that will be used to bolster educational and career programming for elementary, middle school and high school students. Bonita Springs Florida Weekly.
