Students in Florida’s public schools won’t be in classrooms anytime soon. The Florida Department of Education has ordered schools be closed until at least April 30th.
The directive comes after President Donald Trump extended federal social distancing guidelines to April 30th. Many Florida school districts have taken up distance learning to keep kids engaged academically. The success of the effort dependents largely on follow through, and whether students have the technology available to make it work. Already there have been concerns regarding distance learning for students with disabilities.
The school year in many counties is slated to be over at the end of May. The Florida Department of Education has previously said it could extend the school year until June 30th but many districts say they’d need help paying for teachers for that time as most teacher contracts are up at the end of the regular school year.
