MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County Public Schools made an abrupt change to their lesson plan after experiencing repeated problems with their online learning platform.
The district made a unanimous decision to cut ties with the $15 million K12 online learning platform after frustrations stemming from the first week of school.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho addressed the matter during a news conference held late Thursday afternoon.
“K12 had admitted on the record that they failed the school system,” he said.
The district’s decision, however, led to another complication.
Parents, students and even teachers were unaware there was a change until they attempted to log onto the platform for learning Thursday morning, only to discover it had been taken offline overnight.
School board members opted to part ways with K12 during their first meeting since the start of the school year.
The board meeting started Wednesday at 1 p.m. and lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning. Board members reached their decision to cut ties with the platform just before 2 a.m.
“I was extremely proud that we were able to stand up on behalf of the teachers, and most importantly, our students,” Dr. Steve Gallon, the school board’s vice chair.
A district spokesperson said they notified principals early Thursday morning so that they could advise their teachers. They also said an email was sent to parents.
While they wish they had more time to transition, they said, when the board voted, they were left with no choice.
“We felt that it was necessary for us to transition very quickly to a platform that is well-known by our teachers and students,” said Carvalho.
Students, teachers and parents who woke up to the sudden change had to quickly adapt for their school day.
“I just had emails through Outlook,” said Fabio Castellon, an eighth grader at Shenandoah Middle School.
Students and teachers experienced problems with the program during the first week of the new school year, when many were having problems logging on.
“The beginning of this school year was not what any one of us envisioned,” said Carvalho. “I recognize and I regret it. It did not begin the way we expected. We know that students, teachers and parents have been frustrated and disappointed. I have been frustrated and disappointed, and my staff has been frustrated and disappointed.”
Teachers will now return to the methods they used for online learning last spring during the pandemic: Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
“This was something that we thought was in the best interest of our students and teachers based on feedback that we got from last year,” said Carvalho.
“I witnessed those amazing educators, who do God’s work on earth, cry in front of me,” said School Board member Mari Tere Rojas.
Castellon said that while the K-12 platform was more user friendly, his morning classes were able to make the shift back to using Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
“Zoom and Teams, they’re smooth, but I prefer K12,” he said.
His father, Reynaldo Castellon, said he is staying positive and understands this is all new territory, adding that while it has been a confusing time, he is glad to see school leaders trying to address the issues.
Karla Hernandez-Mats, the president of the United Teachers of Dade, approved of the district’s decision. In a statement, she wrote, “We are very pleased that the school board made the decision to end the use of the K-12 platform for our teachers and students.”
“We are a system that plans and executes far better than this latest example, but we’re ready to move forward,” said Carvalho.
Gallon, meanwhile, said he didn’t want the school board’s decision to happen so abruptly.
“That operational decision to effectuate the termination immediately, that was their decision. My item provided for at least 48 hours, through Friday, Sept. 11th, for that termination to take effect,” he said.
Last week, tens of thousands of students missed their online classes as the district was dealing with multiple cyber attacks.
A junior at South Miami Senior High School, 16-year-old David Oliveros, was arrested. Police said he admitted to orchestrating eight cyber attacks on the schools’ systems.
“I am beside myself how this school board has claimed to have things under control when it is anything but that,” said one parent.
“I beg you to reopen schools immediately,” said another parent.
The superintendent said students could possibly head back to campuses as early as October if COVID-19 cases continue to trend downward.
“We believe that we will able to safely return teachers and students, for those who elected to return to the schoolhouse, which is about 50% of our student population,” he said. “There is no connection whatsoever between our return to schooling, physical schooling, and the challenges that we have faced.”
Carvalho said that the district does not owe the platform any outstanding payouts.
He also released a list of measures he plans to implement, one of which was mandatory cyber security training for certain employees, as well as bringing in I.T. consultants.
The school board also passed a $5 billion budget on Wednesday.
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