Teachers prefer virtual school?

“My son’s teacher announced today she is leaving Palm Beach County schools because she does not want to teach in-person and online at the same time. She is going to work for Florida Virtual School. How common has this become?” — Boca Raton mom

As South Florida’s school boards are learning, many teachers are uncomfortable returning to the classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic and are desperate to work from home. Teachers don’t seem to be leaving in droves, but I keep hearing anecdotes like this one, where teachers decide having to teach simultaneously to students in the classroom and students learning from home is the last straw.

Some have sought jobs at Florida Virtual School (FLVS), the statewide, tuition-free online education program. It’s been around since 1997 but has expanded greatly this year as families are rejecting traditional public schools during the pandemic. There’s also FLVS Flex, which allows part-time study.

FLVS has definitely been hiring. The online school now has 2,158 teachers across the state, up from 1,772 a year ago, and still has 124 open positions. Since July 1, the system has hired 305 instructors, who can teach pupils anywhere in Florida. I asked which counties their new teachers came from, but spokeswoman Tania Clow said the school doesn’t track that.

The kids keep coming, too.

“Since July 1, FLVS has seen a 52 percent increase (more than 147,000 new course enrollments) in FLVS Flex, and FLVS Full Time is serving approximately 64 percent (3,720) more students compared to last year,” Clow said.

If you’re a parent interested in online school or a teacher interested in making a switch, go to www.flvs.net.

What about bus drivers?

“Are bus drivers still getting paid, even though schools are closed?” — B.Z., Miramar

They are. Bus drivers in both Palm Beach and Broward counties have been getting their regular wages. The school districts desperately need these drivers and didn’t want to risk any of them finding another job as schools are set to reopen soon. (Palm Beach County schools are opening Monday; Broward is looking at Oct. 5.)

Here’s what the Broward schools spokesperson told me when I asked about bus driver pay during the pandemic: “Since (Broward schools are) experiencing a shortage of bus operators, the district is ensuring the livelihood of its employees, while making all efforts to maintain the highest number of bus operators and attendants for when students return physically to school campuses.”

The district said drivers, and attendants who assist children with special needs, are required by the Florida Department of Education to have a number of annual training hours. So they have been using these weeks before school buildings open to fulfill these training requirements.

The school district has been conducting additional training around bus sanitizing and COVID-19 “passenger management techniques,” like telling kids to put on their masks and to not get closer to each other than they have to. The district has also found other work for them, such as delivering school supplies, laptops and sanitizing hightouch traffic areas in schools.

A shortage of bus drivers has become a perennial problem because of low pay and students who are often difficult to manage. In Palm Beach County, drivers earn a starting salary of $14.57 an hour and about $22,000 a year.

In Broward, the starting salary is $15.10 an hour in a 37.5-hour work week. Most earn about $28,000 a year. Benefits include medical care and a retirement plan. There are about 85 vacancies at the moment and 1,072 drivers.

Why is football favored over other sports?

“Palm Beach County schools’ return-to-sports plan favors football. Doesn’t the school district realize there are other sports? Fall sports also include cross country, volleyball and golf. I know so much revolves around football, but there are many high school athletes that play other sports that are ready to play and deserve equal footing as we get back to normal.” — Palm Beach County sports parent

Sept. 21 will be a big day for student athletes in both Broward and Palm Beach counties. Both will be allowed to start conditioning for their seasons after six months of inactivity due to COVID-19.

Under a plan proposed to the Palm Beach County School Board last week, Palm Beach County teams could begin outdoor conditioning on Monday, the beginning of a gradual transition into indoor weight rooms, non-contact practices, contact practices, and then competitions and games with other schools. The plan has not yet been officially adopted.

There are more pages in the 51-page Palm Beach sports restart plan devoted to football, which would open its season on Oct. 30, than other sports, but the report also details plans for cross country and golf, which would start up on Oct. 5; swimming/diving and bowling, which would begin Oct. 13; and girls’ volleyball, which would restart on Oct. 26.

There’s no doubt that many schools see football as a crowd-pleaser and source of money. My colleague Adam Lichtenstein reports Palm Beach schools are expecting to lose $650,000 due to the decrease of football gate revenue from a shorter season this year. But I wouldn’t say the other sports are being ignored or dismissed because they are not as popular.

What are the options for school nurses?

“I am a senior school nurse employed with the Health Care District of Palm Beach County for 9 years, going on age 62, with concerns for my safety and was only offered to voluntarily resign if concerns for safety an issue. No benefits offered. Not even health insurance. I have been employed as a school nurse 19 years all total including time in North Carolina. All that I am prepared for skill-wise now is school nursing. I wasn’t ready to re t i re f i n a n c i a l l y. Shouldn’t we be given options during this pandemic in a state which has been leading the number of cases of COVID-19?” — Donna Markham, Palm Beach County school nurse

Although Broward schools employ their nurses directly, Palm Beach County schools get their nurses through the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, which has been supplying nurses since 1997. The nurses got laid off during the pandemic but are now back at work, even though school buildings will not reopen until Sept. 21.

School nursing in the coming year will be all about COVID-19, according to the Health Care District, and nurses will need to buy in to this philosophy.

“For the 2020-21 school year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional use of the school clinics will be modified in order to focus on students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms,” district spokeswoman Robin Kish told me.

All students with respiratory, gastrointestinal or general symptoms of feeling sick will be evaluated by the school nurse in the health room. School nurses wearing full personal protective equipment will perform a screening and determine if a student with these symptoms needs testing and if so, help schedule COVID-19 tests in the community in a timely fashion. It is expected that school nurses will perform testing once test kits are available.”

Kish said the nurses’ expanded role has been made clear to them.

“Since July of this year, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County has been openly communicating with the school nurses about the inevitable expansion of the role of the school nurse when students return to classroom learning in Palm Beach County’s public schools.

Those discussions included potential new duties related to COVID-19, such as testing, and possible exposure to COVID-positive students or staff on a daily basis.

The Health Care District continues to work individually with the school nurses on their new role, concerns, and future duties. We welcome our school nurses and school health staff to share any questions they have with their supervisors and/ or human resources so we can respond to their individual concerns and clarify any misinformation in a supportive and confidential manner.”

So nurses know what they’re getting into, and now they have to decide if they’re up for it. Similar to most other professions, if you leave before retirement age, the harsh reality is that’s the end of your benefits, no matter how much time you’ve put in.

How will masks be enforced?

“What will happen to students who don’t wear their masks when schools reopen?” — L.A., Boca Raton

Although the reopening of schools is looking somewhat chaotic at the moment, there’s one rule that Broward and Palm Beach County school officials say is going to be enforced: Everyone has to wear a mask, and only certain masks are allowed.

There will be discipline for the mask-less, although not too severe.

“Students who ignore facial covering guidelines will be educated on the importance of mask usage,” according to the Palm Beach County school district’s posted policy.

The district is appointing a “COVID Point Person” on each campus to make sure each student is wearing a face covering and adhering to other rules intended to avoid coronavirus spread.

In Broward, students will be “reminded” to put their masks on and their parents will get a call.

Further punishment, based on the Student Code of Conduct, is allowed if a student “blatantly disregards the health and safety of others and/or refuses to comply with wearing a face covering.”

When the kids are allowed back in Broward, families will have to supply their children with masks, which are not allowed to have wording that supports political parties or candidates or endorses discrimination, drugs or violence. Students won’t have to wear masks if they are sitting 6 feet apart from their fellow students, but they will have to wear them whenever they are in transit.

Palm Beach will provide disposable masks to students who forget theirs, although students are allowed to bring their own; neck gaiters and “open chin triangle bandannas” will not be allowed.

Kids will have to wear them in their classrooms and on the bus, but not if they are eating (sitting six feet apart, of course), exercising, acting in a play or visiting the school nurse. The masks will have to fit snugly, with no holes or gaps, and cannot have offensive wording. And no plastic face shields; they will be permitted to replace a traditional mask only with a medical exemption.