What Flagler County Schools May Look Like as They Plan to Reopen Aug. 10

Flagler County schools plan to reopen on Aug. 10, the day originally scheduled for the start of the 2020-21 school year. But while the likelihood is that students will see classrooms again, to say that schools will actually reopen their doors may be premature: the district, like districts across the state, is working on reopening plans, which will be contingent on a series of conditions.

One of those is the reopening phase the state is in. At the moment, Florida is in Phase 2, which allows for gatherings of up to 50 people. It does not allow for schools reopening, though extra-curricular activities and sports may resume–and are doing so on Flagler campuses.

But the Florida Department of Education and Flagler schools are going on the assumption that Phase 3 will be enacted by then. “Our plan, the calendar is August 10, and that’s what we’re still aiming for, obviously, as far as what that’s looks like, that’s what we’re trying to work through,” Jason Wheeler, the district’s chief spokesman, said this afternoon.

The district has appointed a 14-member task force, made up largely of district directors, under the leadership of Earl Johnson, to devise what the district’s campuses and classrooms will look like by Aug. 10. The task force has met twice so far. Its report to Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt is expected by early July.

Today, the education department issued a 143-page plan called “Reopening Florida’s Schools and the CARES Act,” a double-barreled report focusing on guidance for safely reopening campuses and on closing achievement gaps with federal funds secured through the congressional appropriation known as the Cares act, a multi-billion aid package to state and local governments and school boards. Flagler County governments are about to receive $6.6 million.

The amount Flagler schools is in line for is not yet known, but is expected to be substantial. Local districts’ K-12 programs and other “local education agencies” are in line for $693 million. The act also makes $874 million available to higher education and $224 million for child care. (See the financial details here. The conditions on how the money may be used are here.)

“This document is not a set of mandates,” Wheeler said. “None of it is binding, they’re suggestions.” But the document will help Flagler’s task force.

The report acknowledges that “K-12 schools, college campuses and child care programs are inherently high-contact settings, not built conveniently for social distancing,” that “Schools are designed to bring people together, creating shared learning spaces, enabling teachers to connect with students in-person, empowering students to collaborate and maximizing the value of a shared educational journey.” That makes social distancing difficult at times. Therefore, the report states, “reopening will require locally driven strategies with guidance” from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and local health officials.

Locally, however, Bob Snyder said he has not yet had interactions with Flagler district officials about planning for reopening. “No one has involved us,” he said today. The report issued today specifies that districts must have a county health department liaison and a local medical doctor or expert involved in the process of developing protocols. (Wheeler could not provide a requested list of the members of the task force today, but said in a text, after the article published, that “The first couple of meetings have been a few people from the district office, as well as representatives from both unions as well as school-based administrators. My understanding is they will bring in local health/emergency operations folks as well as John Fanelli to add a mental-health component to the conversations and plans.” Fanelli is coordinator of student supports and behavior district-wide.)

The state report also places a premium on transparent and open communications with communities beyond the schoolhouse. But it isn’t clear whether the task force meetings at the district are open to the public.

The report calls on all school employees, not a designated few, “should be trained in recognizing symptoms, screening students and staff and responding to concerns.” Outside areas should be exploited for learning and extra curricular activities. Large student or staff meetings should be moved either to larger, more open areas or to incorporate electronic methods, with the first priority on “facilitating in-person course needs.”

The report describes a different kind of approach to each day at school, with risk-reductions laid out at six key stages in the day, from before students get to campus to the time they arrive to the use of classroom spaces to extra curricular activities and departure. At all stages, social distancing is encouraged to the extent possible, while hygiene should be a universal compulsion. And it outlines numerous recommendations–many of them listed at the top of this article–that would create the new school campus in the coronavirus era.

“It’s driven by local data, which locally we’ve been OK, the hospital is not inundated, so we’ve tended to flatten the curve better than other areas in the state,” Wheeler said. The task force “is going to come up with all those kinds of recommendations and submit them to the superintendent. We’re kind of doing planning now for something in two months’ time, when who knows what we’re going to face in two months,” so it will have a lot of contingencies.

Flagler schools’ first extended day summer camps open next week. Later this month athletes may return to campus, with more openings planned in July. The district’s 12-month employees are working at their individual schools.

The state report addresses what has turned into one of the more delicate issues of the coronavirus emergency: the wearing of face masks, which some people see as unnecessary while public health and many others see as essential. “While cloth face coverings are not mandated, schools should explore strategies to utilize them, to the extent feasible,” the report states. “At a minimum, schools should be supportive of students, teachers and staff who voluntarily wear cloth face coverings.”

The report also notes one of the “most vulnerable times” for infections: drop-offs and pick-ups. “To the extent possible for families, the same person should drop off and pick up the child every day,” the report recommends. “To the extent possible for families, older Floridians such as grandparents or those with serious underlying medical conditions should not pick up children, because they are more at risk.”

The report focuses on numerous other issues, including disinfecting methods, how schools should respond to a confirmed case, how and when to shutter a program. “The decision to open or close a school or program should ultimately rest with the local leadership of that school or program,” the report notes, suggesting that in the coming school-year, while system-wide closures will not be the likely approach in case of outbreaks, there could be localized, temporary closures of particular programs, buildings or schools, with the health department playing a large role in those decisions. “Ultimately, local health officials have the expertise to determine the necessary length of closure and scale of response.”

In those instances, “Schools may need to discourage staff, students and their families from gathering or socializing anywhere.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled the plan alongside Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran in an appearance in Melbourne earlier today.

“In Florida, we’re taking a smart, safe, step-by-step approach to re-opening, and this extensive data driven plan will ensure Florida students, educators, and families have the confidence and support needed to get students back to the classroom, which will in turn allow parents back into the workforce and allow Florida to hit its economic stride,” the governor said.