Students Offered Online Learning In Polk County: School District

LAKELAND, FL — Parents in Polk County worried about how to keep their kids safe this upcoming school year can choose to have their kids take classes online instead of in their school building. Florida's Commissioner of Education on Monday ordered all "brick and mortar schools" to reopen in August, as reported by Sarasota Patch.

Another concern of parents is the ability of their children's school to provide online learning as an option as Gov. Ron DeSantis recently wiped out the entire $29.4 million budget for a suite of online education services that have become critical to students and faculty during the coronavirus outbreak as reported by Politico.

The Polk County School District told Patch that students in Polk County will still be allowed to opt for learning online in the 2020-2021 school year.

"The governor’s veto regarding that virtual funding will not impact our distance learning options for the upcoming school year," Jason Geary with the Polk County School District said in an email. "Our distance learning options do not use this funding source. The Florida Department of Education’s recent executive order includes that school boards with an approved reopening plan will receive their full FTE credit even for students taking part in approved innovative learning formats."

Geary said Polk County Public Schools staff reviewed the executive order and have determined that the school options they've developed for the 2020-21 school year are still viable under the order. Those options include being able to attend school in-person or virtually.

"We anticipate that our plans for distance learning meet the innovative learning format parameters and will be supported fully for FTE since we will meet instructional hour and attendance requirements," said Geary.

They plan to reopen all of their brick and mortar schools this fall with enhanced safety precautions as well as offer some distance learning options.

The county's reopening task force continues to finalize recommendations for how to physically reopen schools as well as offer distance learning options for the 2020-21 school year.

School officials said an overview of this plan will be presented to the school board during their July 14 work session.