Online learning in schools is option, helping struggling students a priority in new order
Parents fearing they might have to send their children back to in-person classes despite their coronavirus concerns can relax.
The Department of Education on Monday released a new emergency order that keeps live, remote classes available as an option for the second semester of classes, along with the funding that allows school districts to provide it along with in-person instruction. Schools will be expected to continue face-to-face classes through the end of the school year, as the state previously required.
“The message is schools are open,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference at a Kissimmee elementary school, his first in over a month.“We are not going to abandon your child. We are not going to abandon you. We are still offering parents to make a choice.”
DeSantis used the order to underscore his philosophy of reopening the state, which is nearing 1 million coronavirus cases, and said closing schools in March due to COVID-19 concern was the “biggest public health blunder in modern American history.” He then called those who continue to back school closures “flat earthers” and said Florida will have “no lock-downs, no fines and no school closures” in the future.
“People vote with their feet. People are coming here at a higher clip than they were a year ago, and I think part of the reason is because schools are open,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said the new order largely mimics the same rules from the fall semester. It continues to allow full parental choice on the mode of instruction, but it includes tweaks on funding and how to help students who are falling behind.
The order requires schools to alert parents if their children are not “making adequate progress” in their online classes, and would have the children transition to in-person learning unless their parents opt out of that choice.
The reason for that, DeSantis said, is because “the data and the evidence are overwhelmingly clear, virtual learning is just not the same as being there in person.”
Learning shortfalls and funding
Under the new state order, schools must provide plans for how they will tackle students’ learning shortfalls. Several districts have reported high percentages of children in online courses receiving at least one failing grade.
The state order will require districts and charter schools to submit and receive approval of “intervention plans” in reading and math that target students’ expanded learning needs. Schools that do not expect to continue offering the “innovative” e-learning systems will not have to turn in a plan.
“Any plans for interventions that will continue into Summer 2021 for students with widening grade-level deficiencies must be identified in Spring Intervention Plans,” the order states.
Districts that experienced enrollment growth beyond their annual projections also would be fully funded, to answer a question that some superintendents raised about possibly not getting all the money they were due through the state formula. Most districts have been held harmless as their enrollment numbers fell short of expectations.
This order aims to deal with that scenario. The districts that have not seen gains would spread a $17 million money shortfall among them, an amount that Corcoran called “de minimis” and suggested could be covered with federal CARES Act grants.
Reassurances for parents
Before the Thanksgiving break, Corcoran said his goal was to create a system that provides continued flexibility, while also protecting students and seeking the best academic outcomes.
Officials in the department worked with school district leaders to develop an approach that meets those marks as best as possible, he said. Officers in the state’s superintendents association provided several ideas to the state, and said they believed their input would be incorporated into the final outcome.
Still, parents and local school officials have waited anxiously for details from the state to determine whether they could continue the strategies they implemented for the first semester, when they were allowed to create live e-learning options as long as they also provided face-to-face classes for any family that wanted those.
District officials made clear they wanted to keep their current models in place, to avoid further disruptions in an already chaotic year. With every passing day, though, they observed that making changes would become more difficult, as thousands of children statewide who remained in remote classes would have to be rescheduled for the next grading period that’s only a few weeks away.
Parents, too, have fretted over the possibilities since the fall, when rumors first started circulating that the state might no longer pay for the e-learning model, which is not part of Florida school laws. Many said they did not want to send their children back to classrooms while the coronavirus, which is on the upswing, was still a threat. Yet they also did not prefer the virtual model that is permitted under state law, allowing independent-work online courses with no connection to their school.
In fact, the live remote system emerged amid many criticisms that the less directed springtime virtual effort fell flat for teachers and children alike.
They pushed the state not to abandon the choice that they had made and found best for their circumstances. They figured the state’s clear support for school options would favor their effort.
Corcoran repeatedly stated that he anticipated providing full parental choice, but that the details had to be worked out. The latest order is that attempt.
As of Nov. 20, right before the Thanksgiving break, the Manatee County School District had reported that 282 students and staff members had tested positive for the coronavirus. More than 3,000 additional people have gone into two-week quarantines because they were exposed to someone who tested positive.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 2:53 PM.