Broward public schools may reopen for in-person learning on Oct. 5, superintendent says

Broward County Public Schools, the sixth-largest school district in the country and the second largest in the state with about 221,000 students and nearly 33,000 employees, could resume in-person learning as soon as Oct. 5.

Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie announced during a virtual School Board meeting Tuesday morning he plans to recommend that date to School Board members to reopen brick-and-mortar schools.

On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized Miami-Dade and Broward counties to enter Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan starting Monday, clearing the path for students and teachers to return to face-to-face teaching. The two counties, the epicenter of the state’s COVID cases, had been in the more restrictive Phase 1 since the pandemic began in the spring.

The Miami-Dade County school district had announced it would decide by Sept. 30 whether to open schools for in-person learning by Oct. 5. Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said as the COVID data improves locally, that timeline could speed up.

Carvalho said he plans to hold an open-to-the-public meeting with medical experts Thursday to review the issue. Miami-Dade has had an array of issues since reopening its school doors to virtual classes on Aug. 31, from parents and teachers unable to connect on the district’s new online learning platform to cyberattacks.

In a 13-hour meeting last Wednesday that ended at 2 a.m. Thursday, the Miami-Dade School Board voted unanimously to sever ties with K12, the company the district had hired to produce a $15 million online learning platform, called My School Online. Teachers and parents blasted the program for continually booting them from class, losing lessons and an overall lack of training by K12.

Runcie said he will present the Phase 2 reopening plan for Broward schools during a board meeting Sept. 22. The board will discuss and vote on it that day.

“It will answer questions for parents and students and once approved, it will be placed on our website for all to review and access,” he said of the plan.

Broward County Public Schools reported 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 30 days as of Monday, according to the Broward Schools website. The cases impacted 39 schools around the county and involved school employees and contractors.

As of Tuesday’s Florida Department of Health report, Broward County registered 164 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths. The county has 74,689 confirmed cases and 1,288 deaths, according to state health reports.

How will Broward schools reopen in early October?

According to memos obtained by the Herald that Broward teachers recently received, the district is pushing teachers to return to the classroom unless there are special circumstances that would prevent a teacher from doing so, although the memos did not detail exemptions.

“It is to be determined whether we will allow teachers to work from home in very unique circumstances,” one memo read.

The school district did not respond to a request for comment from the Herald about the memos.

The Herald also obtained an email sent by Jeffrey Moquin, Runcie’s chief of staff, to Broward teachers Monday.

“In order to optimize the likelihood of a successful transition, it will be necessary for all teachers to return to the physical campus and provide synchronous instruction for those students on campus, as well as those electing to remain in the eLearning environment,’’ the memo said.

“This determination is largely predicated on the District’s inability to add instructional resources beyond what is feasible within budgetary constraints.”

Teachers will likely return to the classrooms a week before students. There will be mandatory social distancing and masks.

Parents will receive a survey Sept. 22 after the School Board meeting and will have until Sept. 25 to complete it. They will decide between two options: “My child will remain 100% online” and “My child will return to campus 100%.”

Teachers and classroom support professionals will also receive a survey with the same response window. The main question: “When in-person, on-campus instruction resumes for students, I will” followed by two options: “return to school and work from campus” or “seek the appropriate leave option.”

Parents who don’t reply will default to “remain 100% online.” However, teachers who don’t respond will default to the first option, pushing them to physically go back to the schools.

If classrooms fill up, the district would open overflow areas, such as gyms, media centers and cafeterias, according to the memo. If more students request access to campus than schools can accommodate, schools will either identify students for “prioritized access” or rotate interested students, although the memo did not specify who these would be.

Students in the Keys back in the classrooms

Palm Beach County Schools are slated to open Monday, but students can choose to remain in distance learning and teachers will simultaneously teach in person and those remotely.

Schools are enforcing facial coverings and social distancing on campus, and opening overflow areas to accommodate students.

Monroe County Public Schools began gradually returning students to classrooms Aug. 31 and fully reopened Monday for all students.

Students from Pre-K to fifth grade will go to school five days a week. Students from sixth to 12th grade returned on a part-time basis, attending virtual school on days they don’t go to the classrooms.

Miami Herald reporters Gwen Filosa and Colleen Wright contributed to this report.