Seminole County schools begin year with both face-to-face and virtual instruction
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - Students in Seminole County are back in school despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Seminole County School District, 44 to 46 percent of families chose the face-to-face learning option district-wide out of more than 67,000 students. This means less kids will be in classrooms and more will be learning at home virtually.
The district has created strict safety measures for students who are going to school in-person. Schools have signage in place to put distance between others and frequently wash hands. Schools are also providing hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE) for students and teachers.
“Masks are expected within the classroom. That’s good,” said second-grade teacher Jinx Coleman. However, teachers like Coleman have some concerns. She has underlying health conditions and feels hesitant and scared because of classroom sizes. “I just would like to see fewer numbers of children in the classroom so spacing can occur. [And] desk dividers for all students, and even the teacher.”
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The annual tradition of ringing the historic school bell, signaling that summer is over, went to Pine Crest Elementary of Innovation on Monday morning.
Rachel Tavares-Ortiz and her daughter Penelope are starting their first day of school together, stating that they are "excited" and that "we've been waiting. It’s her first time in school.”
Seminole County Superintendant Walt Griffin said that "I think it’s very emotional for families, for our teachers, everyone is worried about health obviously."
Penelope and her fellow students will sit behind Plexiglas with their own touch-screen device. One day they will learn about 3-D printers, programming, and coding at Pine Crest Elementary.
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Coleman, however, has 11 second-graders in her class this year but only ten plexiglass dividers for desks. Daniel Smith, the President of the Seminole Education Association, said he is hearing similar concerns from other teachers in the county.
"The PPE equipment is in quite a few of the schools and ready to go from what I saw,” he told FOX 35. “But I can tell you, I’ve also heard some teachers who are very concerned because they don’t feel like they have enough based on their class size.”
In regards to the desk shields, a district spokesperson said schools will adjust, citing that "the district ordered an initial 25,000 to get started. Using them in areas of need across the district. Most are being used initially at the elementary-level or in classrooms where social distancing is a challenge. Since our initial order, we’ve ordered an additional 15,000 and we anticipate we may need to order more as the school year progresses. We will continue to adjust accordingly as the need persists."
As for the 56 percent of students learning online, some issues are expected.
“I do anticipate some technology hiccups,” Griffin explained. “Whenever you put so many people on at one time, things are gonna shut down and so on. But we’ve given our families some fair warning, please be patient with us.”
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