Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Most online classes to end
Broward, Miami-Dade students must return to campus in the fall
Most online classes will end after this spring in South Florida, and students will be expected to return for face-to-face learning in the fall.
The superintendents of Broward and Miami-Dade school districts both announced Tuesday that they plan to open 100% face-to-face classes or close to it. Palm Beach County made the same announcement Friday.
Gone will be the classes where teachers juggle students in their rooms with those learning remotely from home. Districts say they will continue to follow whatever the latest guidance from the Centers for
Disease Control
& Prevention is regarding masks and social distancing.
“There will be no blended, hybrid or remote learning for students,”
Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told the School Board.
Runcie said he considered three factors in reaching his decision:
■ The ease of teachers getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
■ An effort to make vaccinations available to kids 12 and over.
■ Poor academic results this past year.
The number of students receiving failing grades more than doubled compared to before the pandemic.
“Remote learning has had some negative impacts on students,” Runcie said. “They’ve struggled academically as well as socially and emotionally, and they need to be back in school.”
Alberto Carvalho, superintendent for Miami-Dade schools, made the same announcement Tuesday afternoon.
“Many of our students have learned well online, but there is no substitute for the live presence of a dedicated, caring professional,” he said.
South Florida districts switched to all online education in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and kept
offering it, even when schools reopened in October. More than half of parents chose the option.
Not everyone is eager to return to campus. Some parents say they want to continue with the remote option since children can’t yet be vaccinated. Adrienne Nolan, who lives in Coconut Creek, has a second grader and an incoming kindergartener, but they won’t be attending Coconut Creek Elementary in the fall.
“They’re pressuring parents to make the decisions they want them to make, and they’re not even giving us information about what they’re going to do for safety,” Nolan said. “They’re acting like kids are fine. The pandemic is over.”
She’s enrolling them in Florida Virtual School, a state-run online program. The school doesn’t offer much live teaching and is designed for more independent students.
Broward offers a similar program called Broward Virtual. Enrollment has typically been limited, but the district is looking for ways to expand it, Runcie said.
He said the district will survey parents to see how much demand there may be.
Raymond Adderly, a junior at Fort Lauderdale High, has been attending school in person since October. He’s eager for others to return. Only about a third of students at his school had returned.
“Social interaction has really been missed. Most events are just ramping up now but not open for all.,” he said. “I also feel that there was poor instruction due to burned out teachers. It is also super hard to follow and stay motivated on the computer.”