In a follow up presentation by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Tuesday, districts received additional guidance about reopening requirements after Commissioner Corcoran issued an emergency order Monday. Districts must offer a five day per week in-person option to families per the order.
Districts must submit their reopening plans to the Florida Department of Education by July 31st via a template that will be provided on July 9th. The draft of the template requires districts to sign off on a series of assurances including pledging to open schools five days per week beginning in August and providing “robust progress monitoring” to ensure students are not falling behind.
Screenshot of the FDOE draft template for district reopening plans taken 7-7-20
Numerous questions were submitted via the webinar. FDOE staff responded to questions surrounding plans for the 2021 Florida Standards Assessment. A question was posed, “Are you going to seek a federal waiver for FSA testing for 2020-2021?” Unequivocally, they replied, “No we are not.” They stated they want to understand the impact of the learning loss as a result of school closures using the test data.
Staff repeatedly mentioned that if districts have no changes to business as usual, they do not have to submit a plan. However, they encouraged districts to consider the “health and safety” of students and the community when making such a decision.
There will be another webinar once the template is released. FDOE staff will assist districts with completing the form in order to submit it by the deadline of July 31st. Stay tuned…we will keep you updated.
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