Decision deadlines approaching fast for upcoming school year

Deadline day for parents choosing education path for kids

Parents have to decide what way their children will be receiving their education for at least nine weeks.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A survey in Orange County shows that only 33% of parents would allow their children to have face-to-face learning when returning to school this fall.

Most schools in Central Florida are offering virtual learning. Now parents have to make a choice on what would be the best way for their child to learn.

"We've gone back and forth," said Orange County resident David Grim, whose daughter is starting middle school this year, "trying to just make a good sound decision and what's best for our family."

Grim's daughter was reluctant at first to do online school, as she wanted to have "that new middle school experience," Grim said.

Face to face vs. virtual learning

Parents are deciding what environment will be best for their kids to learn and stay safe.

After wrestling with in-person learning, virtual school, and Orange County's Innovative OCPS LaunchED@Home program, the family decided that the incoming sixth-grader will be doing the LaunchED@Home program.

Grim taught for Orange County Public Schools for 19 years, and his wife who is still teaching now is making her decision whether she will be returning to face-to-face teaching.

Among families surveyed in Orange County, 62% have decided they will be going back to school virtually.

The district says 120,000 students in Orange County are already registered for their choice this fall. A parent’s back-to-school choice does not have to be permanent. For Orange County, the current commitment for the three models is as follows:

LaunchED@Home – 9 weeks with the option for the full first semester
Face-to-Face – 9 weeks with the option for the full first semester
OCVS/FLVS – full first semester

Exceptions can be made within the first 9 weeks for any of the instructional models on a case-by-case basis if a student is not experiencing success.

In Seminole County, the minimum commitment to Seminole Connect is 9 weeks; students can move back to Face‐to Face instruction after each grading period. The minimum commitment to SCVS is 18 weeks; students can move back to Face‐to‐Face instruction for Semester 2 (January, 2021) if all 1st semester courses have been completed.