Schools chief wants to ‘fully reopen’

DeSantis also urges return, but South Florida may wait

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a proposal Thursday to help school districts welcome back students to campus, including $64 million to offer summer school to struggling readers in primary grades.

School districts can receive a share of the money if they provide an intensive summer program for any students in grades kindergarten to three who have poor reading skills. Low-performing fourth and fifth graders from schools rated D or F in 2019 can also participate.

Miami-Dade County schools already had announced plans to bring back its most struggling students in early August. Palm Beach and Broward county schools are expected to offer a similar program but haven’t announced plans yet.

Florida schools have been closed since mid-March at DeSantis’s order. Districts in Florida and the country have used online learning to educate students. DeSantis said that’s expected to lead to a widening achievement gap between proficient and struggling students.

The summer school money is part of $137 million in federal coronavirus relief aid for public and private schools and child care centers. Districts also can receive money to hire more reading coaches, overhaul their reading curriculum and offer free SAT or ACT college entrance tests to high school students.

DeSantis announced the plans with Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran at a news conference Thursday in Melbourne.

Both encouraged school districts to fully reopen this fall but stopped short of mandating it. DeSantis said different counties may have different needs.

“We want schools fully open in the fall because there is no better way to educate our kids than having that great teacher in front of that child,” Corcoran said.

Cocroran said data shows children have “an extremely low risk” of contracting and spreading COVID19.

“What we do know is not having that world-class education with a teacher in front of a child, there’s real significant harm you can’t recover from,” Corcoran said.

The two said schools should reopen in a safe way but spoke little of the social distancing or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that South Florida school districts are focusing on as they try to limit the potential spread of the disease.

However, those were included in the state’s 119-page report released Thursday.

The report encourages the use of social distancing. It suggests converting libraries and cafeterias into classrooms, eating lunch in class, sanitizing campuses, promoting hand washing and encouraging, or at least not discouraging, the use of masks by students and employees.

The plan also discourages school districts from using distance learning or a blended model of virtual and in-person education.

“Online and blended learning does not replicate the in-person learning experience,” the report says, linking to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

South Florida school districts have been considering a number of scenarios where distance and blended learning play a major role. In one scenario, half the students come to school two days a week and the other half come the other two days. Another scenario would provide in-person education for students with special needs or academic deficiencies but would continue distance learning for others.

But state officials say the report offers guidelines, not require

ments. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said South Florida districts can continue with their plans.

“We are counting on that local flexibility to meet the need of the parents and members of our community to return to physical schooling but also provide hybrid models,” he said.

Carvalho also said state leaders he’s talked to recognize that South Florida is in a different phase of recovery than other parts of the state and may not be able to move as fast toward full in-person learning.

Palm Beach County school officials said they’re still reviewing the state guidelines. Broward schools acknowledged a request for comment but didn’t provide it.

DeSantis praised the makeshift online education plans schools adopted this spring.

“I think distance learning in Florida was one of the most effective in the country, but there’s not going to be a substitute for that in-person instruction,” DeSantis said.