FLORIDA -- The Florida Council of 100 is releasing a new study on the impact of school campus closures in the state.

A recent survey commissioned by the Council found that 41 percent of people said the school closures have "somewhat" affected their ability to do their job because they are having to stay home to help their children with school work or don't have a place to take them for child care during that time, and 23 percent said it has "greatly" impacted their ability to do their job.

"In normal times, parents would go to work while their children attend school," said Chris Corr, chairman of the Council of 100. "Ultimately getting parents back to the workplace means a commitment to mitigate future outbreaks through Covid-19 testing, contact tracing, isolation, and monitoring until a vaccine or effective therapeutics are developed.

"And then for businesses, it's also having an impact because there's a loss of productivity," said Bob Ward, President and CEO of the Council of 100.

The Council estimates the economic impact of a six-week closure of school campuses is about $859 million.

However, the study said the move is "justified by the relatively low estimated short-term economic impact of such closures weighed against the potential long-term public health harms of opening school campuses too quickly."

The brief also explains how school campus closures are likely to cause student academic achievement gaps.

"Even losing a months worth of time, and in Florida we've had more than a month, can have an impact on a student being able to gain a year's worth of knowledge in a year's worth of time," said Ward.

He said the problem is a loss of face-to-face time with teachers combined with unfamiliar learning strategies and technologies.

"We need to get in and do a relatively quick assessment of the learning losses," he said.

The Council's study makes several recommendations including:

  • Further implementing innovative ways to support students and parents during at home learning
  • Evaluating each student's learning status at the end of the current school year to identify students who might benefit from summer bridge programs or an early return to school in the fall
  • Using the summer months to provide teachers with classes on distance learning, virtual education techniques and technologies