Florida public schools prepare students, families to move classes online
LARGO, Fla. - Public school students on spring break are preparing to enter a digital education world instead of going back to class. With the state of Florida closing down schools until April 15, computers and tablets now become classrooms.
Wednesday, Bay Area school districts ironed out their plans.
"Everyone's making plans they were not anticipating to make," said Michael Grego, Pinellas County Superintendent.
"Our goal is to ensure we can provide some continuity of instruction," Grego continued. "It's not going to perfect. It's not going to be as if students are coming to our school buildings but we are trying as hard as we can to provide some continuity of instruction for our community."
Next week, Pinellas County schools will undergo deep cleaning. Tuesday, March 24 and Wednesday, March 25, students can pick up a digital device at their school if they don't have one.
"If you come into school, we are going to bring you into the media center, we are going to provide you a device, you'll sign a release form and we will get you acclimated to that," Grego said.
The district has about 60,000 devices ready to loan but only expects to hand out about 15-20,000. Monday, March 30, grade and subject-specific instruction resumes on the Clever platform.
"Our kindergarten students all the way through 12th grade go into Clever every single day to access assignments, to find their grades, to communicate with teachers and everything in between," said Kevin Hendrick, Pinellas Schools Associate Superintendent. "So, from that perspective, it won't be very different for our students going in there and accessing these resources."
The goal, statewide, is for no student to feel disconnected. Governor Ron DeSantis is ordering all districts to redirect unspent 2019-2020 funds in various allocations, including Title II funds, to help low-income students get the tools they need.
Meanwhile, companies like Spectrum and Comcast are offering free wifi services for 60 days to K-12 and college students who don't already have subscriptions.
To enroll with Spectrum, call 1-844-488-8395. To enroll with Comcast, visit www.InternetEssentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376 to begin the connection process.
Transitioning from physical classroom to digital is a learning process for all involved. Parents still have plenty of unanswered questions and the districts are working out the answers. For now, they ask families to pay close attention to their websites for daily updates on plans moving forward.
If you feel sick:
The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.
LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website
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