Will the state allow remote learning to continue in Florida schools this spring?
Cassidy Alexander
Remote learning is working for Heather Scofield's daughter.
The family decided that for the Spruce Creek High senior who is at risk for a more severe illness if she contracts COVID-19, it would be best to spend her school year learning from home. She's attending her lectures, completing group projects and participating in online study groups.
"It's been overall a good experience," Scofield said. "We just never thought they would eliminate it midway through the school year."
Although nothing has been finalized, there's a very real possibility that remote learning will no longer be an option for students come January.
More:In massive shift, Volusia high schoolers will get new schedules as part of remote learning fix
Every district submitted plans for "innovative learning models" — mostly varying approaches to remote learning — over the summer for state approval. But the approval only covers the first semester of the year. State officials have not decided whether the approval, and accompanied funding for students who are not physically present on campuses, will be extended past the first semester.
Volusia County school district officials are finding that has been a point of confusion for families who understood that remote learning would be around for the long haul.
Over the summer, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran ordered Florida schools to reopen in August despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That order included an avenue for districts to offer "innovative learning environments," with approval from the state, and still be guaranteed to receive the same level of funding for students who weren't physically in school. That's where the idea for remote learning came in — but the funding is only protected until the end of the fall semester, per that July order.
More:Education chief orders Florida schools to reopen in August
Volusia officials are not optimistic about the future of Volusia Live — the remote learning option that 16,000 students enrolled in this year.
"All indications show that by January, or the end of the first semester, there is going to be no Volusia Live," Assistant Superintendent of High Schools Gabriel Berrio told the School Board this week, and told The News-Journal the week before.
But the Florida Department of Education has yet to make a call, said spokeswoman Cheryl Etters in an email to The News-Journal.
"The department wants to review attendance and enrollment data from the official student headcount before making any decisions," she said.
Etters said the state should have a better idea in mid-November, when that data is in from all the districts.
About 60% of Florida's students were expected to return to in-person schooling — meaning approximately 1 million students are participating in a different type of education this year.
More:Volusia: Two-thirds of remote secondary students are failing a class
In Volusia County, the exact numbers are likely to be in flux. As part of ongoing schedule changes at the secondary level, schools are calling students who are failing classes and encouraging them to return to in-person schooling. At secondary schools, more than 60% of students in remote learning have at least one D or F grade. Almost the same percent of students in in-person schooling have D or F grades.
For Scofield's daughter, a mid-year switch would mean a big decision for the family: return to schools — which haven't seen major outbreaks locally but still have reported cases of COVID-19 since reopening — and risk getting sick, or switch to another learning option and risk jeopardizing the academic progress she's made so far.
If Volusia Live was no longer an option, students could enroll in virtual school through the district or Florida Virtual School, or switch to a private school or homeschooling.
Her daughter has been working for four years toward a specialized diploma that has different requirements. The family isn't sure how a mid-year change would affect her progress toward graduation.
"She will get an education at the end of it all, obviously," Scofield said. "We just have a lot of questions. Answers have not been forthcoming."
More:State report shows more Volusia, Flagler schools report COVID cases
At the Tuesday School Board meeting, Interim Superintendent Carmen Balgobin and Berrio answered questions about how parents and families would have known that remote learning could be ending. Berrio assured the board members that at information sessions over the summer about the learning options, and on the district and state's materials, it was noted that remote learning was only approved for one semester. But Balgobin admitted that maybe that wasn't enough.
"We probably could have done a better job of emphasizing it," she said.