WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Parents in Palm Beach County on Monday can start connecting to their child’s online portal to choose how their children will learn during the second semester of the school year, which begins Feb. 2. .
Parents can choose distance learning or personal learning as before, but this time, thousands of parents will see a letter informing them that their child is not making adequate progress 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 to provide options.
The Palm Beach County School District said about 25 percent of distance learning students fall into this category. This is broken down into about 10,000 high school students, 3,800 high school students and about 8,000 at the high school level.
If a parent is notified that his or her 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 for safety to receive these students back on campus.
“The goal is to make sure 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,” Fennoy said.
“Our schools have worked hard to bring a number of students back to the bricks, where we can provide a better environment, and you’ve heard Dr. Fennoy say that our schools are safe,” said Deputy Superintendent Keith Oswald. “The mitigation strategies we’ve implemented, the secondary transmissions verified by the Department of Health, only happen in our classrooms in a few isolated athletics events.”
Oswald said struggling students face consequences such as failure in the next grade, GPAs falling below the 2-point average or even the possibility of not graduating on time.
“It is essential that any distance learning parent enters the portal, goes to the tile of choice to see, if you are not sure if your child is making adequate progress, you can get to your child’s school,” said Oswald.
The portal will be open for a week, until January 11, for parents to make their decision.
“We will keep everything as it is, so my youngest will continue to go to school as he was,” said Father Gina Shrestha. “Nothing changes there, and my biggest will continue to be virtual.”
Shrestha said his eldest son in high school really benefited from distance education.
“He has a lot of work. He also studies for SAT, so he just tries to make the most of his time,” Shrestha said.
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