Miami July 7 – Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has issued an executive order requiring state schools to reopen their facilities for the next school year due to start in August, despite coronavirus cases continuing to rise in the state.
The commissioner of Education left open the possibility of learning models when the coronavirus rebound grows at an alarming rate.
The provision establishes that educational institutions must open at least five days a week and offer a wide variety of services so that their students can return to classrooms safely.
Corcoran said that “there is a need to open schools entirely to guarantee the quality and continuity of the educational process, the comprehensive well-being of students and families, and a return that reaches its full economic pace in Florida.”
Either way, as the rebound of the virus in South Florida, continues to grow at an alarming rate and the Miami-Dade mayor implements new closings and curfews, this state order to ‘reopen’ schools would be subject to development. from the coronavirus pandemic in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, which are the only three territories in the state that are still in Phase 1 of reopening.
Some school districts, including Miami-Dade, have proposed offering multiple options for schooling, such as ‘hybrid models’ that would incorporate online and in-person learning.
Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade Schools (M-DCPS), noted that “the Commissioner’s executive order on the reopening of schools is fair and measured, as it allows for different models of instruction, traditional schools, and other innovative options. ; and it guarantees fiscal stability for a highly unpredictable time, the first quarter of the year ”.
He also said: “The order appears to be fully aligned with the recently approved tentative reopening plan by M-DCPS, which prioritizes the choice of parents and also places great consideration on local health conditions at the time of opening.”
The announcement comes at a time when the numbers of contagion and hospitalizations have increased in Florida. Some hospitals, such as the Jackson Memorial in Miami, project that if the impact of the disease continues to increase among the South Florida population, it is likely that in a month or two they will not have available beds.
Corcoran’s order also extends to charter schools and private schools that accept scholarship students.
The announcement came the same day President Donald Trump tweeted: “Schools must open in the fall!”
Fedrick Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union, said its members also want schools to reopen, provided they have the resources and guidance to make it safe.
“Ultimately, we want our schools to open,” Ingram said, adding that “we want our schools to open with security in mind, first, and with adequate funds to provide those security measures.”
The pandemic closed almost all schools in the United States in March. Therefore, many institutions launched online programs to keep their students active.
