RIVERVIEW, Fla.- Last week, the Hillsborough County School Board voted to modify its reopening plan to have virtual learning for the first 4-weeks of the school year with a start date of Aug. 24. The day following that vote, the Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the board, barring that vote from moving forward, saying it “directly contradicts” the district’s original plan that was approved by the FLDOE.
After blasting Hillsborough County Schools’ online reopening plan and giving the district three options for opening, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sat down with Gov. Ron DeSantis for a roundtable discussion on reopening schools in Riverview Monday.
“Parents should have a choice for in-person or distance or virtual learning,” DeSantis said. “The social and developmental part of school is important, too.”
DeSantis said parents and families have every right to chose virtual classes, as there are different levels of concern when it comes to putting students back in school buildings during the pandemic.
Desantis added, “When you don’t offer any in-person, you’re denying the ability to make a choice.”
“Hillsborough is the only district besides those in Phase One not doing what the emergency order gave them the flexibility to do,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran has given the Hillsborough County School District until Friday, August 14th to reverse the voted on ‘virtual-only’ plan or risk losing out on state funding.
The entire round table can be viewed here:
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