JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This week, Duval County Public Schools teachers will find out if they will have to move to other classrooms or switch to a different school to balance enrollment issues within local schools.
In an interview Monday on The Morning Show, Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene explained those assignments are being decided this week. Fortunately, she said, the school district will not have to lay off any teachers even as enrollment challenges crop up during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have to make sure all of our classrooms are what we consider balanced,” Dr. Greene said. “That way we don’t have classrooms with nine students and the classroom across from it has 17 or 18. This week, we will be balancing out our classrooms.”
This means that the teacher who began the year with your student in class might now have to move to another classroom or potentially a different school entirely. The district has not released additional details about which schools will be most affected by the shuffle.
“We will be transferring teachers, or as we call it, ‘surplusing’ teachers," the superintendent said. “So that they will transfer into classrooms more overcrowded where the numbers are higher than we desired and make those really small classrooms that have 11 to 12 students in them (balanced).”
Dr. Greene also addressed any concerns parents might have about more middle school students now joining other grades on campus. Starting Monday, 7th and 8th graders enrolled in the hybrid program will now attend in-person classes five days a week instead of two. Last week, 6th graders returned to campus full-time.
The superintendent also discussed the various safety measures in place on school campuses.
“We’ve continued to follow our stringent protocols with temperature checks and everyone wearing facial coverings. We will continue using those measures, along with custodians there during the day cleaning."