Hillsborough School Board Weighs Options For Coming Year

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County public school parents will have a chance to weigh in on three models designed to get their children's education back on track when the new school year begins Aug. 10.

The Hillsborough County School Board spent 3 1/2 hours Tuesday discussing the options laid out by Superintendent Addison Davis, ranging from traditional classroom teaching to all online learning as more than 29,000 parents and teachers tuned in remotely to the live discussion.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mandated that schools reopen for the 2020-21 year but left it up the school districts on how to accomplish this while protecting both teachers and students from the coronavirus.

Davis presented three scenarios.

The A option would be business as usual with students back in the classroom in front of a teacher with rules in place for social distancing, including staggered bathroom breaks and lunch hours.

Additionally, schools will be disinfected daily and students will be given disinfecting wipes to clean their own desks and any other equipment they might have used that day.

Option B is a rotational model with students attending reduced-sized classrooms for a 10-day period followed by a period of online learning.

"With the B blended model, students would go to brick-and-mortar school for 10 days and then use elearning to reduce the volume of traffic, cut class sizes in half and implement social distancing from a bus perspective," said Davis. "Teachers will have face-to-face instruction eight days and then virtual learning the other two days."

He acknowledged that the B model could present a child care dilemma for working parents.

"I know B may cause angst about child care, but we will seek out community partners to provide child care," he said.

In scenario C, all students will be taught remotely using a combination of Internet instruction and printed lessons for students who have technological disadvantages.

"Elearning will be significantly improved from what we’ve learned over the last nine weeks," said Davis. In addition, students will have the option of enrolling in the Florida Virtual School or the newly developed Hillsborough County Virtual School.

"These models were developed to give parents a choice in how their child will be educated," said Davis.

He conceded that option A is going to be challenging.

"Social distancing will be difficult with class sizes of 18 and 25, so we'll have controlled movements where possible in the classrooms, lunchrooms and bathrooms," he said. "There will be limited mass gatherings, assemblies, pep rallies and field trips."

The district is recommending that staff wear masks but it won't be mandated. He said the county has already acquired 6.8 to 9 million face masks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other sources to provide all students with three reusable masks. And the district has applied to FEMA for a million more masks to provide students with five masks each.

In the event that an employee or student contracts the coronavirus, Davis said the district will either isolate the point of exposure or shut down the school for 48 hours.

Graphic courtesy Hillsborough County School District

The school district plans to launch a parent survey on July 1 to get feedback on the three options. Davis said the district will also survey teachers on their thoughts about returning to school.

"We may have some employees who elect to go to elearning," he said.

With elearning, students receive daily or weekly assignments from a classroom teacher that can either be done on line or on paper and turned into the school.

"We will define this more in the coming weeks," Davis said.

Florida has long offered students Florida Virtual School as an option. Last year, 363 students chose to attend Florida Virtual School. This year, more than 800 Hillsborough County students have applied for virtual school and the application period is open until July 24.

Rather than lose that funding to the state, the school district will offer its own virtual school so the $13 million that goes to Florida Virtual School will remain in the Hillsborough County School District.

After listening to Davis' proposal, school board member Lynn Gray said it was apparent that model A has the highest risk of exposure to the coronavirus and model C the lowest. She thinks model B will be the most popular choice.

Nevertheless, she wondered if face masks shouldn't be mandatory for all staff and students, especially with coronavirus on the rise in the county.

"I'm a fan of model A," said school board member Steven Cona. "It gives every parent the option of what's best for their child. But I'd like to see a more robust structure for elearning to ensure that it is going to be viable."

He said he'd also like assurance that cleaning standards will be consistent at every school in the district. Some schools, he noted, are immaculate while others need a lot more attention.

Davis said the principals of the schools should alert him if the cleaning standards aren't up to par, and he'll take action.

Cona also had concerns about the impact of these changes on students whose first language is not English and on special education students. He said they already struggle when there isn't consistency.

"I think option B will be a logistical nightmare for ELL and ESL students," he said.

School board member Karen Perez was concerned about the impact classroom learning might have on students with compromised immune systems or who live in multigenerational households with senior citizens who are susceptible to the coronavirus.

"We’re living in unprecedented times when we have to protect our students against an invisible enemy," she said. "Studies show that children can unwittingly infect a grandparent and may shed the virus longer than we do as adults. We have vulnerable students and staff in schools, and social distancing and masking is simply not worth the risk. I like model A where you have the option of direct learning and elearning. But if they go with traditional learning, it's imperative that we protect those students."

School board member Tamara Shamburger said she can relate to Perez's concerns.

"I am battling COVID right now," she said. "I literally put my life on the line for the community. Masks should absolutely be required. I am one of those people who took them for granted and now I’m quarantined battling this horrible disease."

School board member Stacy Hahn suggested putting together a task force of health experts, parents and teachers to review the options, and hone in on specific problems.

For instance, under model A, parents will be asked to check their child's temperature at home before they head to school.

"Anyone above 100.4 degrees, we’re just not going to let them in our facility," Davis said. "This is the only practical way to do temperature checks."

In option B, schools will have a designated person to check temperatures before children enter the school. But he said there is no way to check the temperatures of the entire student population under model A without losing valuable classroom time. There's also the logistics of lining 200-plus students up to take their temperatures while maintaining social distancing.

School board members were also concerned that some working parents may be tempted to send their child to school with an elevated temperature to avoid taking a day off from work and risking their jobs.

While Davis' plan is a good start, school board member Cindy Stuart said the final back-to-school plan will depend on whether the rate of coronavirus continues to increase in Hillsborough County.

"The spike we’re seeing now may or may not change our plans," she said. "I know this plan will probably change 10 times between now and Aug. 10."

Graphics courtesy Hillsborough County School District

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