"An open door for devastation" and a risk she's not willing to take.
That's how one parent of a student at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) feels about the school's reopening plan, which does not include a distance-learning option.
If families don't want their children in a classroom with other students in a state that's a coronavirus epicenter, they're left no choice but to leave the school.
FSDB's Administrator of Instructional Services Tracie Snow told First Coast News this Tuesday about the school's options.
"They would have their option of maybe attending the brick and mortar in their local school district, attending the Florida virtual school, which is the statewide virtual option, or if their school has a franchise for virtual school. FSDB does not have a franchise so that was not something that we were able to offer," she says.
This is leaving many families feeling stuck and uneasy about their families' futures. Parents say they want to know mainly why there is no distance learning option, especially when it's said to have gone well in the spring.
"If I wanted to mainstream my child then I would have done that a long time ago," said Charlene Eddy, the parent of an FSDB student. "That was not my choice. My choice was for my son to receive an education through FSDB."
Eddy's son Jasen is blind and has been going to the FSDB since he was three years old. Their family moved from Missouri for it.
She, like other parents, say the reopening plan is good if you want your child to return to the classroom. However, she sees the school's reopening choices of going to the classroom or unenrolling as no choice at all.
First Coast News spoke to another woman with a son who is visually impaired and goes to FSDB.
"While I consider my family high-risk because we are over 65, I know that my children's classmates have shunts, they have heart issues, they have many underlying health issues that on top of everything they are either blind and deaf," said the mother who wishes to remain unnamed. "So I'm just shocked that the school was not able to get a waiver from 'everyone must attend class.'"
First Coast News asked FSDB staff why distance learning is not an option. Public Information Officer Lisa Acheson Luther said they were not available for an interview Thursday and responded with this response to the question in an email:
"Our reopening plan will continue to change in the coming weeks as additional guidance is provide by the FDOE, CDC and the FDOH. This is a dynamic situation and will continue to require quick execution of mitigation procedures. We are evaluating our options and putting forth plans that protect the health and safety of our students and staff including exploring how we can implement what’s outlined in the FDOE order under ‘innovative learning environments.’"
First Coast News asked if this mean the plan could change to include distance learning in addition to the in-school plan now.
Acheson Luther's emailed response: "As shared in the plan itself, things will continue to change." You can read the emailed answers to other questions at the bottom of this article.
First Coast News asked the communications managers at multiple school districts if those districts are prepared to take on students who are both deaf and/or blind for virtual learning.
At the state-wide Florida Virtual School, the communications manager says they've worked with FSDB for several years. Communications Manager Tania Clow stated in an email their exceptional student education staff can discuss individual needs with families.
Her full answer: "Florida Virtual School (FLVS) has worked with the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind for several years.
The nature of the online environment provides a wealth of accommodations that benefit many students. It is important that parents work with their school district to determine which learning environment is best for their child. FLVS has Exceptional Student Education (ESE) staff available who work with prospective families to discuss individual student needs and the options available at FLVS."
In Duval and Clay Counties, they were still looking into the question by the end of the workday Thursday. In St. Johns County, students have to apply and be accepted into the virtual school. The application deadline is midnight Friday.
Eddy is pushing for distance learning for at least the start of the school year. She encourages anyone who feels the same way to find her on Facebook.
"For the safety of my child I would choose that for the first semester of school and I'm not given that choice and neither is my son," Eddy said.
The president of the school's Deaf Alumni Association also fears for her husband who is a high school science teacher. Jacquelyn Lally's husband recently had multiple surgeries and she is often around her elderly parents to shop for them.
Going back to the classroom does not feel safe to her and she says her husband was not consulted about the decision. She wants to emphasize her views are her own and not her husband's.
"It will only take one person to infect my husband," she wrote in an email to First Coast News.
More than 550 students from across Florida go to the school. Transporting children from coronavirus hot spots in the state that is an epicenter is a concern mentioned by each person interviewed for this story.
"Florida's considered an epicenter," said the mother who does not want to be named. "Now they decide to resume in-classroom training? It just doesn't make any sense."
Parents say they love FSDB and are disappointed in the decision to not offer the choice of distance learning.
Lally is a also former counselor at FSDB. This is her emailed response about the challenges facing students who are deaf, deaf-blind, blind, and visually impaired:
"The challenges are astronomical. These are special education students. These are students who require hands-on, just in time, and even tactile learning opportunities for some. The needs of the students cannot be met in simple ways. Many students require various technologies, accommodations, assistive devices, supplemental materials and even language translations. For some of the def students, ASL is a necessity they need access to but do not have that access in their own home. There are deaf-blind students who need to be touched daily for communication purposes. There are blind students who need to be lead by another person and taught mobility and orientation skills. These are not things that can be done in the homes all over the state! I totally understand that and I wish there was an easier way to meet the needs of all FSDB students safely!
The bottom line for me is the safety of my husband and everyone else. Safety at this point cannot be guaranteed. My husband can only make the choice to be safe for himself, he cannot control the actions of anyone else around him. I would rather he stay home. This interview in no way reflects my husband's personal thought or feelings. This all comes from the bottom of my heart, and I do not speak for him."
These are emailed answers from Acheson Luther about FSDB after she said they were unable to do an interview Thursday:
1. Why is distance learning like what was done in the spring not an option? On Wednesday Administrator of Instructional Services Tracie Snow said, "FSDB does not have a franchise so that was not something that we were able to offer." Can you expand on that?
"Our reopening plan will continue to change in the coming weeks as additional guidance is provide by the FDOE, CDC and the FDOH. This is a dynamic situation and will continue to require quick execution of mitigation procedures. We are evaluating our options and putting forth plans that protect the health and safety of our students and staff including exploring how we can implement what’s outlined in the FDOE order under ‘innovative learning environments.’"
Follow-up question: Does this mean the plan could change to include distance learning in addition to the in-school plan now?
"As shared in the plan itself, things will continue to change."
2. How will blind students social distance? It says in the reopening plan bus students are walked to Copeland lobby and car ride students walk to Cary White. That seems clear they're walked by staff?
"Yes, they are escorted by staff. When staff and students aren’t able to social distance, they will be required to wear a cloth face covering."
Can you give an example of how learning will look in class?
"This varies by department (deaf and blind), by class, by grade, by teacher, etc."
3. I've heard from several parents they did not receive surveys on their thoughts. Were surveys to get parents' opinions emailed out? What was the response rate?
"A survey was issued to parents/guardians on June 25, 2020, which was accompanied by a letter from FSDB President Jeanne Glidden Prickett, and on July 9, 2020, FSDB invited a variety of stakeholders to evaluate our initial draft of the reopening plan and provide feedback, ask questions, etc. There were 10 questions on the June 25 survey – the majority of parents/guardians for each question responded that they were either ‘very comfortable’ or ‘comfortable’ with the approach we outlined (increased safety and sanitation protocols, wearing masks, social distancing, temperature checks, etc.) Fifty-four percent of those who responded shared that they did not have any concerns about their child’s return to FSDB in the fall."
4. How many students will be transported by other coronavirus hot spots like Miami?
"Enrollment is taking place through Aug. 3, 2020."
5. I've also had parents ask how funding for the school will be impacted if too many parents withdraw their students?
"This is a question best addressed by the state of Florida."
6. Did FSDB check with local school districts and Florida Virtual School to ask about their ability to teach students who are deaf-blind, deaf, blind, or visually impaired?
"FSDB has a strong working relationship with counties across the state. Schools are doing their best to ensure they’re meeting their students’ needs during an extremely challenging time; there’s no rule book for what administrators, educators, families and students are experiencing and planning for right now."