FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Frustrated parents are among many who are wondering when children will return to the classroom.
Due to the spread of COVID-19, students have been learning remotely. The new safety measures being implemented will have learning looking even more different.
“When hybrid students are not on campus, they will engage in e-learning,” a school board member said. “This is not a day away from learning.”
However, some parents said they want their children behind a desk this fall, no matter what.
Parents and teachers on Tuesday gathered outside Broward County School Board headquarters chanting “five days face-to-face” as they protested for classrooms to become the norm once more.
“They’re creating an achievement gap. All of these kids who are going to be e-learning three days a week are going to be grossly behind than kids who can afford a private education,” said one parent. “If we think that that’s not going to affect them when applying for colleges, when they’re out there competing with the rest of the world going back to school, I mean, it’s insane to think that. Our kids deserve to be in school.”
They said they want educators to consider the future as they make their decision about schooling in the pandemic.
“Nobody is here asking for perfection, as there’s so much uncertainty around us,” another parent said. “Let’s do the best we can, and the best we can do is not a hybrid model. It’s simple: five days a week all in or your out distance learning.”
The school board also remotely discussed the possibility of renaming five Plantation schools whose names could be viewed as racist.
The discussion came after an online petition called for the city itself to change its name.
The school board listened to the concerns of members of the public.
“I am speaking in favor of changing the names of schools in Broward County Public Schools that might possibly, or definitely, find offense to students, parents, community members,” said Anna Fusco of the Broward Teachers Union.
“We love our city. We like the name, and I’m here today just to ask for us to take a breath, not make any rash decisions as far as the City of Plantation names go,” said a community member.
The school board said they will likely set up a task force to look further into changing the names of the schools in the city.
They will further discuss how classrooms will look in the fall later Tuesday afternoon.
Broward County parents and guardians have until July 6 to fill out a questionnaire stating how they would want school to start. To fill out the questionnaire, click here.
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