How will Manatee County schools look in August? The district wants to hear from you

Residents have a chance to comment on the reopening plans for local schools, and families can now register their children for bus transportation, but the deadlines are quickly approaching.

The School District of Manatee County released three options for the upcoming school year, currently scheduled to begin on Aug. 10, and it published an anonymous survey for parents and community members.

The online survey is open through June 14, and the English version is available at surveys.panoramaed.com/manatee/backtoschool2020.

A Spanish version is available at surveys.panoramaed.com/manatee/backtoschool2020/surveys?language=es.

“The school district is hard at work preparing for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year — especially in light of the uncertainties that exist due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” the district said in a message to parents and employees, requesting their input.

Two of the plans involve a return to in-person classes. If the district welcomes students back to their campuses and families need transportation, they have to register by the month’s end, according to the survey.

Bus registration is available through June 30, at manateeschools.net/registertoride.

“In order to control bus capacities and keep our students safe, all students MUST register and be assigned to a bus PRIOR to riding,” the district said on its website.

Reopening options

As of Wednesday morning, the district offered three reopening plans:

▪ Plan A — a full return to in-person learning and the traditional schedule.

▪ Plan B — a mix of in-person and online learning.

▪ Plan C — the full-time continuation of online learning.

Under the middle option, half of the county’s students would likely attend in-person school on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the other half would attend their physical campuses on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The groups would alternate on Fridays, and students would continue their classes online during their off-campus days, according to the district’s announcement.

And regardless of the final plan, parents will have the option to keep their children on Schoology, the district’s online learning platform, if they feel uncomfortable with a return to campus.

Through its seven-question survey, Manatee hopes to gauge the interest in each plan, along with parents’ willingness to send their children back to school. The survey opens with a list of public schools for parents to choose from, along with an option for the general public: “Community Member — No School.”

Online learning possibilities

Online learning is a strong possibility in the new school year, at least in part, and the district asked for ways to improve the eLearning experience. It also closed the survey with a box for general comments, allowing families and residents to share their pressing thoughts.

In its recent announcement, the district said it leaned on the governor’s reopening plan, along with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

Florida was on track to enter Phase 2 of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reopening plan on Friday. As it stands, schools should limit groups to 50 people or less in the second phase, and social-distancing guidelines would be lifted in Phase 3, according to a summary from the school district.

At a recent school board workshop, district officials said they envisioned daily screenings in the new school year, including temperature and symptom checks at bus stops and school entrances. Social distancing would likely continue in classrooms, and students may be required to wear masks in crowded areas, such as hallways.

Many of the tentative plans align with a 16-page report from the Florida Education Association, a statewide teachers union. The guidance resulted from work by the Statewide Committee to Safely Reopen Florida’s Public Schools, a group of more than two dozen teachers, parents, public officials and FEA members.

Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association, was a member of the committee. During an FEA press conference on Tuesday, she said there were millions of students and thousands of public schools in Florida, each with diverse needs.

“There are extreme pressures on public schools to keep students, teachers and other employees safe while delivering an education plan that will help all students move forward when we come back in the fall,” she said.