DeSantis pushes in-person classes

Miami-Dade board delays online start

Parents will have the option to send their children to an actual school campus this fall, no matter where in the state they live, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.

All three South Florida districts plan to open virtually until COVID-19 cases subside. The Miami-Dade School Board decided Wednesday to start the year online-only, as the Palm Beach and Broward districts agreed to do earlier this month. Aug. 31 will be the first day in MiamiDade and Palm Beach counties; Broward still plans to start Aug. 19.

DeSantis said he expects some school districts to delay reopening, but he dismissed the notion that districts may open online only for an extended time.

“I don’t think you’re going have a school district in the state that is going virtual for the whole semester,” he said at a roundtable discussion at the Paul B. Stephens School in Clearwater.

All Florida public schools closed in March and remained closed through the end of the school year.

DeSantis was asked twice if school districts would lose funding if they didn’t open for face-to-face learning.

He and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said in normal times districts would lose funding for going online. They cited a state law that requires students be in school for 900 hours — the equivalent of 180 days — per year.

But they said an emergency order issued by Corcoran this month gives districts the flexibility to offer virtual education to students whose parents want it. The order also instructs districts to offer in-person

instruction, subject to consultation with their county Health Department. South Florida districts say a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the last month make it too dangerous to open right now.

“Had there not been an emergency order they would be much more likely to lose funding, because if you didn’t meet the statutory requirements, that would happen automatically,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said while it’s fine to delay opening a few weeks, he expects in-person education to be offered for parents who want it. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties delayed their start dates until Aug. 31, a week later for Miami-Dade and three weeks later for Palm Beach.

“I’m confident there’s going to be in-person throughout the state. The flexibility of the timing we’re going to leave that to the school district. I’d rather them take a little extra time and get it right,” DeSantis said. “Ultimately, putting the power in the hands of students makes the most sense.”

Representatives from the three school districts did not provide comment Wednesday afternoon about DeSantis’ statements.

Corcoran said surveys have shown a large number of parents want the option to have in-person learning.

Some local surveys have found parents divided on the issue with about a third wanting schools to remain online, a third prefer a fulltime in-person option and a third wanting a hybrid of the two.

Acknowledging there are differing views among parents, DeSantis said, “We’re not going to force any parent to put their child in inperson instruction if they don’t feel that’s the right thing to do.”

He also said districts need to accommodate teachers and other employees who may be older or have health risks that make them more vulnerable to the virus. As for teachers who are healthy but uneasy about returning to class, he said, “Let’s just make do with what we have and get the folks back in the classroom who are comfortable being there.”

The issue of whether to reopen schools has been a contentious issue nationwide, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut off federal funding of any districts that don’t physically reopen their schools. Advocates of reopening argue the risks of staying closed are greater for children than the risks of COVID-19.

“Many students will suffer academic and physical and mental academic consequences if they’re not able to get back into the classroom. I think that’s already happened,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think we’ll see the trends on any of those things will be positive since mid-March.”