What to Know
- The school district reminds everyone the first week of school is dedicated to helping children transition to online learning
- On September 30th, a reassessment of COVID conditions is set to take place
- In order for officials to decide to go forward with in-person schooling, the county must have achieved a sustained positivity rate of less than 10%,
It’s back to school for parents, students and teachers in Miami-Dade County - but with the coronavirus pandemic forcing children to log in instead of walk in to class, it’s anything but back to normal.
Miami-Dade public schools started their first day of classes on Monday and some parents and students are still scrambling to adjust to the new virtual classes.
Several teachers told NBC 6 they were having trouble logging into the county's new system being used. Officials said they were aware of the external connectivity issue and are working to resolve it.
The school district is confident in the new virtual system, but reminds everyone the first week of school is dedicated to helping children transition to online learning, and won’t be solely focused on academics.
“I’m feeling anxious. Not as prepared as I’d liked to be, like most moms, I’m a planner,” Claudia Miro says.
Miro, like so many parents during these times, is juggling her own work schedule along with her 12-year-old son Lucas’ virtual education. On the eve of Lucas’ first day of 7th grade at Coral Gables Preparatory Academy, Claudia says she still had lots of questions.
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“I would have liked to know what the flow of the day was going to be like, how many hours of the day he was going to be in front of the computer, if that was required for every class, if my son was going to be engaged the entire time during the school day as if he was going in person,” Miro says.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a roundtable discussion Monday in Tallahassee about COVID's impact and what the focus is now in the state.
“If there’s a hundred people that test positive one day in the k-12 system, how many of those were evincing symptoms," DeSantis said to a group that included educators as well as Dr. Scott Atlas from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
"We are the only country of our peer nations in the western world who are this hysterical about opening schools," Atlas said.
Teachers are also sharing in the confusion and anxiety.
Priscilla Roche, a teacher and parent, says she’s not yet comfortable with using the new distance learning system. She’s also trying to figure out how to make sure her daughter can use it too.
“That’s the whole reason why I’m nervous,” Roche says. “It’s gonna be the true definition of multitasking and being aware of what she’s doing and then having to focus on my students and what we’re doing as well.”
On September 30th, a reassessment of COVID conditions is set to take place. In order for Miami-Dade officials to decide to go forward with in-person schooling, the county must have achieved a sustained positivity rate of less than 10% and show a trend towards 5% over a 14-day period, among other factors.
