ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — While kids are at the height of their summer break across the First Coast, the return to school is just around the corner.
Tuesday morning, the St. Johns County Schools District released its plans for the fall semester, which outlined three different scenarios that depend on the intensity of the spread of COVID-19 come the start of school on Aug. 10.
Superintendent Tim Forson said come the start of school in August it may have to be a game-time decision as to whether students return to the building or stay with the computer for classes.
"Our goal is to get kids back in school, that’s what we’re trying to achieve," Forson said. "If the conditions get worse then we won’t be back in the building."
Forson said a final decision may not be made until about a week-and-a-half before school starts.
"When we get close to Aug. 1 we will have to declare where we are so parents know when their children are coming back," he said. "We will wait as long as we can possibly wait just because the conditions seems to be changing so rapidly."
In surveys, the district found an overwhelming majority of parents, from every grade level, said they are ready for their children to return to school in August. The number of students who feel comfortable riding a school bus is only about 50% and closer to 25% for students in Pre-K.
Forson said they have three scenarios for returning to school:
- If COVID-19 is low to no spread by August they will all return to the building.
- If there is a moderate spread they may return some to the building and maintain some virtual learning.
- If there is substantial spread they will stay completely with virtual learning.
Forson said they’re hoping to offer more resources to students with special needs since working from home typically means fewer resources.
"We’re going to have to look at children individually, or by their needs, this time around," he said. "We'll have more time to plan than we did in the Spring."
Forson is also trying to meet teachers’ needs, especially those who have been teaching online all this time and trying to home-school their own children at the same time.
He plans to send out another communication to parents in a couple of weeks as they continue to analyze the data with the Health Department and medical workers.
You can view the district's presentation with details on all three scenarios below.
