The Florida Department of Education (DOE) issued an executive order on Monday for schools to reopen for at least five days a week starting August.

Commissioner on Education Richard Corcoran signed the order in the middle of a surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The order is not limited to public schools. It also applies to charter schools and private schools that accept scholarship students, said a report from NBC Miami.

Before schools can reopen, they need to submit a reopening plan to the school district.

The plan has to list the safety measures and social distancing guidelines they will put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

The schools also have to give all services required by the law. This includes in-person teaching and services for students with IEPs (individualized education program), said a report from Spectrum News 13.

School districts have to put monitoring systems in place to make sure students do not fall behind in their studies. The data has to be shared regularly with the education department.

Schools have to provide online learning too. Teaching online has to be at the same levels as the existing brick-and-mortar-schools.

The DOE will give the final say on the reopening of schools.

DOE said in the order that they would consider factors like the percentage of students in the district who are likely to learn through traditional and online teaching and the quality of proposals to close gaps between students.

The full executive order can be read at the DOE website.

Schools Surveyed Parents

Some school districts in Florida surveyed parents on how they want the students to return to school in the new school year.

Parents can choose between sending their kids to physical schools, online classes, or a format that uses a mix of both online and in-person teaching.

High school teacher Jenn Devine believes the executive order makes sure no student is left behind for whatever schooling format they need.

She believes the order focuses on giving students all the different services that the school system can offer. That includes virtual learning.

It also allows school districts to make changes if changes in the pandemic call for a need to close.

The executive order also suspends the 180 education day minimum for school years, so schools don't have to make up for lost time if they need to close comes.

Reopening Plans of Schools

WKMG-TV News 6 reported on the plans of some Central Florida schools about reopening.

  • Seminole County School Board is planning to reopen on July 14 and is set to approve the final safety plan.
  • Osceola County schools will reopen on August 10 as planned, said the school district. A reopening plan was already approved.
  • Orange County School Board will meet on Tuesday to talk about reopening plans. They already asked families for suggestions on safe reopening.
  • Lake County has already drafted a reopening plan, and Polk County made a task force to devise one.
  • Volusia County and Marion County school boards will hold a meeting to finalize and possibly approve plans.
  • Flagler Schools has posted general guidelines for reopening.

Not part of News 6's report was Miami-Dade County's questionnaire to parents that need to be answered by July 10.

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