JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County School Board Chairman Warren Jones said Wednesday the school district wants to hear from the public as it figures out the best way to resume learning this fall.
On Tuesday, the school board voted to approve a multi-million dollar plan to buy plexiglass partitions for classroom desks.
The partitions will be used this fall if in-person classes resume. Last week the district also released more information about what it is considering when kids return to campus.
Jones said during an interview on The Morning Show that the district anticipates buying about 50,000 partitions, but that number is still up in the air.
Jones said part of the reason the shields will be primarily used in elementary schools is that it’s not always easy to have young children wear masks throughout the day and the barriers give an added layer of protection. A recent mask mandate in Jacksonville requires face coverings for public indoor spaces for anyone 6-years-old or older.
“We wanted to be prepared, so when we do open schools, we’ll have those layers of protection,” Jones said. “We have the face mask, we’ll have the shields on the desk. So we have layers of protection to make sure our kids are safe once they return to school.”
The district said Tuesday the estimated cost of the shields is $4 million, money that is expected to be reimbursed through the CARES Act.
“We are confident that the CARES Act dollars that we received will cover the cost and based on the operations director report that we have — we haven’t finalized it yet — but we anticipated spending somewhere between 5 and 10 million dollars,” Jones said.
Jones added that he knows there will be a lot of questions from parents and teachers as the district formulates a back-to-school plan, and he urges everyone to stay involved in the process.
“We want to reopen schools as safe as possible,” Jones said. “We want to make sure that parents are involved in that process, and we encourage them to email us, call us, and participate in the public comments section of our school board meetings on July 7 so we can hear from them and responded to the concerns, concerns that we all have at this point.”
When asked about a group of parents who have asked the school district to delay the start of the school year until after the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Jones said the school calendar has already been set but it can be revisited if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb.
“That process to approve and change calendar dates is one made by a number of groups; parents, teachers, students who are involved, the administration that is involved in setting that calendar. We can adjust that calendar as needed...and we can revisit that if necessary to make sure that we remain as safe as possible.”
Jones also said the district has to prepare for the possibility of a teacher shortage when classes resume as some teachers, especially those with previous health concerns, decide whether or not to return to campuses during the pandemic.
“We are looking at that, and we want to make sure to the board that we have enough teachers. There is always a shortage,” Jones said. “Hopefully with the new minimum salary increase that will help alleviate the shortage of teachers but we are concerned with those teachers who have compromised immune systems and if they are not able to teach in class hopefully can make accommodations for those teachers who continue to work remotely.”
A national poll published by USA Today last month found that 20% of teachers said they are unlikely to go back to school if their classrooms reopen in the fall.
The results were eye-opening for Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene who spoke about the survey during a school board workshop.
“If you think about a teaching force that is a little over 7,800, that would have a major impact on our ability to really have a strong teaching force in place for face-to-face instruction,” Greene said.
That could mean more than 1,500 Duval County teachers might not come back, if the USA Today survey results come to fruition.
Terrie Brady, President of Duval Teachers United, said she doesn’t think there will be that kind of mass exodus of teachers leaving if the district chooses to reopen campuses.
The district said Wednesday that it will have a process for teachers to apply to be a Duval HomeRoom teacher.
“We will staff those roles based on the number students who opt into home-based learning in grades K-6. An increase in enrollment in Duval Virtual Instruction Academy could also create a greater demand for fully online teachers at all grade levels,” the district said.