Gov. Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran Plan to Reopen Florida Schools This Fall

By  //  June 11, 2020

in-person learning returns fall of 2020

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Brevard County on Thursday to make the official announcement that the 2020 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympic Games will take place all across the Space Coast for two weeks in late July and early August.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Thursday in Viera that they plan to reopen schools for in-person learning in the fall of 2020.

The announcement came after Gov. DeSantis revealed in Viera that the Space Coast would be hosting 2020 Junior Olympic Games in late July through early August.

The exact dates of the festivities will be announced in the coming weeks.

Commissioner Corcoran mentioned Thursday that it is Florida’s intention to return students to the classroom in August.

“We want schools fully open in the fall because there is no better way to educate our kids than have that great teacher in front of that child,” said Corcoran.

“We also know that they are not at a low risk, they are at an extremely low risk, not only of contracting COVID-19, but even spreading it. So we’re saying, ‘Open up the schools. Let’s get the best educational environment. Let’s keep everybody safe in our educational community and now attack like no other state has before the achievement gap.’”

To help support students’ return to the classroom, Gov. Ron DeSantis mentioned that he would use federal money provided through the CARES Act which was recently handed down by President Trump.

“We’ve been able to provide a roadmap to announce the return of our schools to on-campus instruction, and to bring long-term improvements to the instructional continuity, using the federal funds provided through the CARES Act to make significant investments in our education system achievement gaps,” said Gov. DeSantis.

The governor’s plan includes the following details:

– $64M to close achievement gaps that have likely been exacerbated during the pandemic.

– $20M to engage school districts in identifying and adopting the best reading curriculum to drive teaching and learning from grades K-3.

– $15M to train and develop 2,000 highly effective reading coaches, develop strategies for in-classroom reading coaches.

– $223M for early learning programs. This includes $55M to childcare providers with costs to maintain a safe learning environment.

– $16.9M to childcare providers who agree to re-open as part of Florida schools re-opening plan.

– $20.9M in funding for successful transition to kindergarten programs, to implement summer programs for 45,000 rising kindergarten children with literacy struggles.

– $45M set aside as safety-net funds to ensure children don’t continue to have disruptions in their education. The funds include up to $30M to protect tax credit scholarships.

– $8M to allow every public school student graduating in the 2020-2021 to take the ACT or SAT free of charge.

– $5M to expand civic literacy in our schools.

– $35M to increase capacity around short-term, in-demand technical certificate programs, market-driven and clock-hour career certificate programs, and preparation courses, at the state’s 28 state colleges, and 48 technical colleges.

– $10.9M for career and technical education equipment grants to support K-12 post-secondary career courses. this plan also includes help and recommendations for education community.

– $2M for increased telehealth services for students experiences difficulties during this time.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced on Thursday that they plan to reopen schools for in-person learning in the fall of 2020.

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