More than 5,600 virtual students are headed back to brick-and-mortar classrooms today in Lee County, marking the second time the school district has pushed for virtual learners to come back to campus.
The Lee County School district held a staged simulation for members of the media of what school will look like with volunteer students and staff from The Alva School on Wednesday August 5, 2020. The district has implemented safety protocols to keep students safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those protocols include social distancing, in the hallways and classrooms and required face masks. They also have an isolation room for students who show signs of COVID-19 during the school day.
In December, the district reported that nearly 70% of its Lee Home Connect students, or roughly 16,000 children and teens, would receive phone calls from their schools encouraging them to make the move.
Lee Home Connect is a model of virtual instruction that is connected to a students' home school and runs in a live format during the school's operating hours.
The push stems from an executive order issued by the Florida Department of Education that calls for students who are falling behind in their remote and virtual studies to come back to in-person learning unless their families say no.
The district has been monitoring students with poor performance since reopening the schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reported that 10,115 students made the switch from virtual to brick-and-mortar at the start of the second quarter in November.
As part of the most recent push to return students to the traditional school environment, the district called the homes of any student who wasn’t making “adequate progress” in their classes. Included in the mix are those students with at least one D or F grade in either the first or second grading periods.
According to Rob Spicker, a spokesperson for the district, 5,653 students are scheduled to go back to in-person learning today. Some students, depending on their school, may have been invited back earlier if room was available on campus.
Another wave of new in-person students is expected at the start of the second semester on Feb. 1, when 946 students from Lee Virtual School are set to switch into on-campus learning, Spicker said.
While Lee Home Connect offers a nine-week commitment, students in Lee Virtual were asked to commit to a full semester of online studies. The latter is a fully online K-12 public school in its 11th year.
Those headed back to brick-and-mortar instruction could end up with a new schedule or teacher. Students and employees are also required to wear face masks and keep their distance from one another as best as possible.
Spicker said the schools are ready for the new students.
“We continue to see minimal secondary transition in schools,” he said, referring to the concern of the COVID-19 virus spreading from person to person on campus. “We believe the protocols are working and students continue to be as safe as possible when on campus.”
If a student hasn’t made the commitment to switch and would like to come back to in-person learning, families are encouraged to contact their schools.
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Pamela McCabe is a reporter for The News-Press in Fort Myers, part of the USA Today Network along with SW FL Parent & Child magazine. Support local journalism by subscribing to The News-Press or Naples Daily News.