Deadline for parents to pick back-to-school option looming in Orange County

ORLANDO, Fla. - Parents in Orange County have until Friday to decide how their child will go back to school this upcoming academic year.

Orange County Public Schools has given parents four options from which to choose:

Face-to-face instruction at brick and mortar schools: The OCPS Face-to-Face Model is designed for families who feel comfortable with students returning to a face-to-face, in-school environment. It provides the opportunity for students to return to campus and interact directly with their teachers and classmates. The district has laid out safety measures here.

Orange County Virtual School: The Virtual Model through Orange County Virtual School offers learning anytime and anywhere. It is a flexible and customized learning model that supports students’ unique, individual needs while satisfying state requirements for completion. This is suitable for families who need a flexible schedule and can designate log on times.

Florida Virtual School: This program is run by the state of Florida. As a parent, you (or another responsible adult) serve as your child's Learning Coach. You will work with your child's teacher to help record student attendance, monitor mastery of online lessons and assessments, and in some grades, review student work.

A new program called Launch Ed @home also called the “innovative” option: The Innovative OCPS LaunchED@Home Model provides the opportunity for students to continue to learn at home while remaining registered at their enrolled school. This model is designed for families who don’t feel comfortable sending their children back to school but ultimately plan to rejoin their enrolled school in the future.

Based on the number of parents who choose this option, students will be placed in classes where all students are learning from home or a portion of the class is learning from home. In both environments, students will follow the standard school schedule and bell times.

Parents are carefully considering several factors in their decisions. Heather Mellet has two children, who are going two different routes when school starts. Orange County’s Launch Ed was a better fit for her elementary school daughter.

“We know who her teacher is going to be, we know she’s a good fit for her,” she said.  “I think the thing parents need to consider is the administration of their school. For us, we are so thankful that we have an administration that gets it and is child-focused. We trust that they’re going to do what’s best for our kids.”

However, her 8th-grade son, who takes high school classes was better suited for Florida virtual school at this time.

“That was a really tough decision for us because we love our neighborhood school, we love the teachers there and we love the admin there,” said Mellet. “We’re going to Florida Virtual School flex option because then we’re able to just focus on core classes. That frees up 10 hours of school for him that he would have had with electives, between being online and doing school work. So if there are some hiccups with this new way of learning, at least he has a little bit of cushion built-in.”

The decision is completely up to parents. However, some options will cause the school district to lose out on state funding. The state assigns funding for each student in a classroom. At a school board meeting Friday, Orange County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Barbara Jenkins said students who do the Launch Ed @ Home option will be counted for full funding, as the face-to-face students.

“Orange County Virtual School receives 20% to 25% less for students who are enrolled,” she said.

Funding Florida Virtual School is based on successful completion rather than enrollment and attendance and is recognized as its own district in the state. According to Dr. Jenkins, if 30% of students select virtual school options, the district could lose up to 80 million dollars in funding.

“If you were equating 80 million of your budget, it equates to 1,141 teaching positions,” she said.

Mellet, who considers herself an advocate for public education, said the decision to enroll her son in FVS was not taken lightly.

“It was a really heart-wrenching decision. My heart feels empty that we had to make this decision temporarily, but at the end of the day I need to decide what’s best for my kid first,” she said. “I’m at peace with it knowing it is only temporary.