Board of Education contemplates a pandemic task force

The Florida Board of Education met by phone Wednesday with several school leaders to discuss the many issues surrounding reopening school campuses.

Chief among concerns is a prospective timeline for a strategic and timely return to in-person or hybrid learning as well as the management of students impacted by the “achievement gap” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the goal post of a Fall re-opening growing more and more uncertain, board member Michael Olenick called for the creation of a pandemic task force. The task force would analyze many of the issues involving the reopening of school campuses including supplies such as electronics, screenings, and class sizes.

The task force could also help establish clearer, more uniform guidelines for reopening to further protect students and educators, Olenick suggested.

“Every decision is a balancing act,” Member Ryan Petty said of the education community’s next steps.

Superintendents suggested Florida should provide a diagnostic exam over the summer to identify at-risk students to help address achievement gaps brought on by the pandemic and the resulting abrupt school closures.

While a return to normalcy by the next year is all but promised, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced a new education order to help ready educators for when the time comes.

The order, most notably, will extend several deadlines and also suspend the expiration of teacher certifications through December 2020 — a decision Corcoran described as “critical issue” for school districts as state testing centers are limited in the operations. The certifications were set to expire on June 30.

The order also includes a provision that suspends the need for schools to carry out teacher evaluations. Guidelines on performance-based salary schedules will be left to each respective school district, per the order.

Additionally, the new order lifts the 20-hour per week work or educational requirement for childcare,  allowing families seeking employment to become eligible for childcare services.