Florida Department of Education extends various deadlines in response to Hurricane Helene

The state of Florida has issued guidance for schools impacted by Hurricane Helene, which will also help schools that will soon be impacted by Hurricane Milton.

The guidance relates to Survey 2 reporting that has been affected by school closures related to Helene, and will be further impacted by closures related to Milton. Survey 2 is a demographic survey that collects student and staff attendance data for use in various planning metrics.

The established survey week for this academic school year is Oct. 7-11, as well as the six days prior to survey week that schools were in session. Many schools along Florida’s Gulf Coast are closed several days this week, which is survey week, and some were closed at least one of the six days prior to survey week.

To accommodate closures, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is offering an alternative survey window for schools impacted by the storm, by using the 11 days that schools were in session immediately preceding Sept. 26. Charter schools must use the attendance window selected by the District in which they are located.

At this time, the FDOE does not expect to waive any instructional hours for faculty and staff.

The FDOE is also making updates to its Progress Monitoring Assessment Window due to the storms. For kindergarten through second grade and for third grade through tenth grade, the window was extended to Oct. 4. Fall 2024 EOCs and FAST Retakes will now end on Oct. 11.

Other guidance is also on offer for local School Districts.

Questions about enrollment for displaced students should be directed to the Office of Student Services by calling 850-245-7840 or by emailing Senior Director of Student Services Andrew Weatherill at [email protected].

Some schools affected by Helene-related closures have reported an interruption in utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan Act’s Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief fund, which ended Sept. 30. Those schools have requested an extension to the program period to fully utilize available funds.

As of now, the FDOE does not have the authority to extend the program period, but has requested authority from the U.S. Department of Education to provide the requested extensions.

Application due dates for Purple Star Schools and Districts applications have been extended to Oct. 30.

The information was provided to all School District Superintendents in a memo dated Oct. 2 from Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.