FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Broward County School Board has voted in favor of a phased return to in-person learning for students beginning Oct. 9, following an order from the state.
The unanimous decision came Thursday afternoon after an emergency meeting.
“Sometimes you have to lose to win,” said Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie during the hearing.
The breakdown will go as follows:
- Teachers will return on Oct. 8 for a planning day.
- Students in grades pre-kindergarten through second grade will return on Oct. 9.
- Grades 3 through 6, and 9th graders will return on Oct. 13.
- All other grades will return on Oct. 15.
“Our board has always put the interests of this community — our kids, our teachers and staff — ahead of anything else,” said Runcie.
As the board closed in on a decision, members of the Broward Teachers Union said the accelerated schedule is nothing more than a political move.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran had threatened to withhold funding for the district if it did not reopen campuses for in-person learning by this coming Monday, almost a week before originally planned.
“The state has the ability to hold the purse strings of the district,” said Runcie.
The superintendent was pushing to make it happen, but even with $67 million on the line, he was met with resistance from several board members.
“The state has provided zero, zero leadership in helping school districts navigate these unprecedented times,” said Broward School Board member Patti Good.
Another school board member, Dr. Rosalind Osgood, echoed Good’s misgivings.
“Absolutely not. No, no, no and no,” she said.
But in the middle of the meeting, state officials sent a message: some flexibility on the opening dates, giving the district three additional days to figure out how many students would be coming back to class and whether or not there will be enough teachers when they do.
School district officials said it was a deal that was too good to pass up.
“I want to thank the school board for their continued courage and commitment to the mission of this organization,” said Runcie. “I think that courage, that commitment, is what got us to the point where there was some compromise to give additional time so that we can do this as best as we possibly can.”
Parents in Broward still have the option to continue e-learning for their children if they choose to do so.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.