This column was orginally published in the Citrus County Chronicle, Sunday, July 19, 2020.

Schools reopening

Together we can do this!

Many questions and concerns surround the coming 2020-2021 school year. No group appreciates these concerns more than the Citrus County Schools Leadership Team. Each day we receive communications from parents, grandparents, students, staff, their families, and the public at large, each person often sharing a personal story or compelling reason for their concern. Making things more complicated is many of these people have very opposing approaches to what should or should not take place in the schools. Education leaders are working to address these concerns. Finding ways to mitigate risks during this COVID-19 period while meeting students’ academic needs may be one of the greatest challenges leaders face in their lifetime.

I am so especially proud of our Citrus County public education system during these challenging times. We don’t pretend to have all the answers. But what we do have are dedicated individuals who have personal stakes in the success of our students. Nearly every district leader has a personal connection to someone who attends or works in our schools every day. I have a daughter that is a student in our schools and a wife that teaches at one of our schools. I have and will continue to regularly visit our schools and classrooms to support those in our schools who are on the front lines and to whom we entrust our most precious family members.

Some are asking why are you opening the schools and not just offering remote or virtual learning? A week ago, the Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued DOE ORDER NO. 2020-E0-06 which has been received with mixed reviews and emotions. The primary item people are concerned with is the requirement, “All school boards and charter school governing boards must open brick and mortar schools in August at least five days per week for all students.” This took many people by surprise because it was so specific, but in general, no new directive regarding the requirement of schools to be open took place. Already numerous state and federal laws already require or compel local Florida School Boards that they must open their local kindergarten through 12 grade schools the equivalent of five days a week.  Florida Statute 1001.42 requires, “all schools to operate 180 days” a school year.  Florida statutes further define the equivalent number of required minutes/hours of a school day/year as five hours a day (or 300 minutes a day) for 180 days (or 900 hours a year). To accomplish this a school board would essentially be required to open K-12 schools approximately 5 days a week for an entire school year. This is the same as in bad hurricane years when schools may not have to make up days if they meet the number of a total of 900 required minutes of school.  The DOE order appears to clarify that statute would still apply. The executive order also further clarified that schools should remain open and only close “subject to advice and orders of the Florida Department of Health, local departments of health”. It goes on to say, “…the day-to-day decision to open or close a school must always rest locally with the board or executive most closely associated with a school, the superintendent or school board”. In plain terms it is saying School Boards must keep schools open unless the FL-DOH or local DOH says it isn’t safe. This is no different than what school boards and superintendents already are governed by in current law when school districts face a hepatitis incident at a school. Superintendents by law already must work with the local Department of Health to maintain the health and safety of our students, staff, and schools.

The FL-DOE order did provide local school districts with additional options that school districts had asked from the Governor and FL-DOE.  The FL-DOE order suspends a number of Florida educational laws to more broadly give districts flexibility to offer more innovative learning options to meet the needs of different family situations. Citrus Schools looks to take advantage of this flexibility by adding learning opportunities. We appreciate the additional flexibility and encourage Governor DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education to continue to provide more flexibility and opportunities for local school districts in the future. During these unique times, I have valued that the Governor and FL-DOE have recognized that local schools are best controlled and managed locally and that leaders and educators in our local communities with boots on the ground can best make these decisions.

It is especially important during this time for our district to provide different learning options for students and families that best meet their individual needs. It is for this reason that I am a strong supporter of local virtual school options for our students and teachers. Citrus Virtual School, our new K-12 full-time virtual school, will open on August 2020 as one of those choices. This will provide families with an option should traditional face-to-face instruction not be best for them. We realize that not all families may be able to use this option.  I am also pleased that our district has made the critical investment of a district-wide Learning Management System called Canvas. This will be a single login solution for students and teachers for delivery of both in-classroom and if need be temporary or long-term remote learning. Canvas will allow teachers to integrate their current lesson plans as well as additional curriculum programs the district is providing. Canvas also allows those with limited internet access at home to download school lessons and work to the Canvas app on the student’s iPad at a network connection at a school, library, or other location and then work offline at home. It also integrates video conferencing for virtual face-to-face instruction and has a login parent portal. We hope to continue to add additional innovative learning opportunities over time. While none of this replaces or brings us back to a traditional learning environment as we had before COVID-19, these are strategies to better meet our students’ and staffs’ needs.

One of the most significant communications I continue to receive is from families who do not have childcare options should schools not open in August or who have an Exceptional Education Student who cannot or do not learn well in a virtual or remote learning environment.  We are legally and morally compelled to provide for these families just as we are compelled to provide for families that want alternative options.

The second biggest concern from families and staff has to do with masks. Masks are being encouraged by both the Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Masks at this time are not being mandated in Citrus County Schools but are being highly encouraged. There are passionate feelings about whether or not masks should be worn and about whether or not mask wearing should be required. We want to balance respecting individuals’ personal rights and choices, while also focusing on the health and safety in our schools.  Regarding whether or not students can be required to wear masks, there are state and national legal issues that still need to be considered.  I do have concerns about placing our teachers, staff, and administrators in a no-win situation of constant monitoring students not wearing masks. But let me be clear we very much support masks being worn by students and staff. The district has purchased 700,000 masks for the first 9 weeks of school for use by both students and staff, and we encourage students and staff to purchase and get individualized ones as well. Parents, grandparents and family members, this is a time that you could buy or make a special mask for your student or staff member. Practice at home wearing them and wearing them for extended periods of time to get used to what it’s like in different settings.

As we daily review the COVID-19 data for Citrus and Florida, we share the same concerns of our students’ families and our staff. The Superintendent and Citrus County School Board are working directly with our local Department of Health and medical experts to make daily decisions that are in the best interest of our students, staff, and schools. Adjustments to operations and policies to improve health and safety will be ongoing. It may also require temporarily quarantining a classroom, building, school, or district. If so, the Superintendent will make that decision after recommendations from the Citrus Department of Health. For up to date information visit the district’s webpage at www.citrusschools.org.

All of us want to return to normalcy. This is not a time for us to be divided. It is a time for us to come together, respect one another, and help one another. Each of us can and must play a role in creating a new culture of health and safety for our students, our staff, and the community. Support the not-for-profit organizations that have been critical to meeting our local needs such as the Citrus County Education Foundation, Citrus County Blessings, and our local LifeSouth Blood Bank. These organizations more than ever need our support. I want to thank our local businesses for supporting our schools, students, and teachers. We need your continued help and as a community, we must support our businesses.   Please support our teachers, respect them, and be understanding of the challenging situation they are in. Our teachers are committing themselves in ways they and their families never envisioned.  Overnight they have truly joined the front line of essential workers and they didn’t ask to be in this position. They did not go to college to be on the front line of an international pandemic where the economic wellbeing of families and their local and even state economy rested on their shoulders. Lastly, I ask that you pray for each of our students, schools, leaders, and our staff teams that we will be successful despite this pandemic challenge! We must be successful for our students’ and our own futures. We must as a community come together and work together. All that we are doing will not have to be done forever.  God willing, this time next year will be a more classic school opening. We must continue to provide kindness, grace, and compassion to one another, for our students, for our community, for our state, and for our nation.

Thomas Kennedy is a School Board Member for Citrus County School District and Vice President of the Florida School Board Association. Follow him at facebook.com/thomaskennedyschoolboard and twitter.com/thomaskennedyfl. Read his blog at http://www.thomastalks.org.

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