TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School District met Tuesday to discuss options for the return of school in the fall.
Students finished the final quarter of the year doing online learning from home using the district app Edsby.
The directive from the Governor is to reopen all Florida schools in the fall, and in recent weeks the Hillsborough County School Board has had a number of meetings trying to nail out a plan.
Here's what they discussed at the school board workshop on Tuesday:
What You Need To Know
- Hillsborough County Schools gives 3-option plan for parents
- Options include return to campus, half in-person/half online classes, strictly online learning
- District to release survey for parents on July 1
- School District of Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis unveiled three options the district is considering for the fall semester.
Right now, school officials say everything is "fluid." But the hope is to start school in some form in August.
During the workshop, Superintendent Davis said he wants to give parents some choices.
"Everyone has different needs and different circumstances and we want to be sensitive to that, to our parents and to our community," Davis said.
The first plan would be a traditional model where in-person classes would resume and things would largely go back to normal with additional health and safety precautions.
The second plan would be a blended model, where students would be on campus 40 percent of the time and then learning online 60 percent of the time.
Under both plans, students could continue with online learning if that works better for them.
The third plan would be strictly online learning for everyone with campuses closed.
"As we get started and select a model, depending on where we are with COVID and a potential spike, we may be able to have to reel back and change it mid-stride," Davis said.
School board members weighed in during the workshop saying they like the idea of parents having options no matter which plan the district goes with.
"That's really what it's about, making sure parents have choices for their students because distance learning may have really worked well for some students but not for every student and every family," School Board Chairwoman Melissa Snively said.
Davis also mentioned that the district will be buying masks for all students and faculty. He said wearing them will be "recommended" but not mandatory, unless required by a state or local government order.
The next step will be for parents to fill out a survey, choosing the option they would prefer best. The survey will be going out on July 1.
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