WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Palm Beach County parents on Monday can start connecting to their children’s online portal to choose how they will learn during the second semester of the school year, which begins on February 2.
Parents can choose distance learning or face-to-face teaching as before, but this time, thousands of parents will see a letter stating that their child is not progressing properly in distance learning and it is recommended that they return to campus.
Part of Governor Ron DeSantis Executive Order on Education for 2021 requires school districts to ensure that parents know if their child is not making academic progress and provide options.
The Palm Beach County School District said that about 25% of distance learning students fall into this category. This is divided into about 10,000 elementary school students, 3,800 high school students and about 8,000 at high school level.
If a parent receives notification that their child is not making adequate academic progress, but chooses to continue distance learning, he or she must provide written confirmation of the situation. Superintendent Dr. Donald Fennoy said on December 18 that the district is prepared, from a security perspective, to welcome these students back to campus.
“The goal is to ensure that all students reach their full potential and our district is taking every opportunity to ensure that our students are educated in the safest possible environment,” said Fennoy.
“Our schools have been working hard to get several of our students back to work in brick and mortar, where we can offer a better environment, and you also heard Dr. Fennoy mention that our schools are safe,” said the deputy superintendent Keith Oswald. “The mitigation strategies we put in place, secondary transmissions verified by the Department of Health, are not happening in our classrooms, except in some isolated athletics events.”
Oswald said that students with difficulties face consequences such as not moving on to the next grade, grades that are falling below an average of 2 points or even the possibility of not graduating on time.
“It is essential for any parent in distance learning to enter the portal, on the block make your choice to see, if you are not sure if your child is making adequate progress, you can contact your child’s school,” he said Oswald.
The portal will remain open for a week, until January 11, for parents to decide.
“We are going to keep everything as it is, so that my youngest son continues to go to school as he always has,” said mother Gina Shrestha. “Nothing is changing there, and my oldest son will remain virtual.”
Shrestha said her oldest son in high school really benefited from distance learning.
“He has a lot of work. He’s also studying for SATs, so he’s just trying to make the most of his time,” said Shrestha.
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