RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Tujuane Doughty understands the call to keep kids out of school, he just wishes that decision would’ve brought an end to the academic year.
The father of two—a junior and senior at Riverview High School—says it’s been a struggle to keep up and help his children adjust to distance learning.
“At this point, school should be the last thing on parents’ and students’ minds,” Doughty said.
“I say take the grades they have, tally them up and call it a year.”
As of Monday evening, more than 200,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Florida Department of Education to void fourth quarter grading and effectively end the 2019-20 academic year.
Doughty said the change has been particularly tough on his daughter, a senior and honors student.
“She’s used to getting it done, making good grades and she doesn’t want to miss her deadlines,” he said.
“From what they’re telling me it’s only supposed to take four hours per day to do all these things but I’ve been sitting there with her everyday and it’s been taking at least 10 hours to get it all completed.”
While his wife works full time, Doughty says he’s grateful to be retired and to have children who are older.
“I know I could feel for other parents,” he said. “If me and my wife are going through this with a junior and senior, I couldn’t imagine parents with young kids.”
An early end
Florida’s schools have been closed since mid-March, with students learning at home, to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Saturday they will stay closed through the end of the 2019-20 academic year.
"As we looked at the clock and we looked to see what it would look like, we’ve got pretty good momentum for distance learning,” DeSantis said during his announcement.
“It’s obviously not the ideal situation, but given where we are in the school year we felt that, that was the best decision to go forward," DeSantis said.
Prior to the announcement, more than 35,000 people across the state signed a petition demanding schools remained closed for the safety of students and teachers.
While online learning is embraced by universities and the home school community, many K-12 students and families have struggled to adjust with glitchy technology and parents working from home.
DeSantis said Saturday that overall the state has seen success rates with distance learning.
Keeping track
Virtual “attendance” rates across Bay Area school districts have remained steady despite the major upheaval.
The Pasco County school district reports about 97 percent of its students have connected with their teachers and engaged in assignments.
In this case, attendance isn’t tracked in the traditional daily sense.
“Students can work at their own pace, and their own times,” said Pasco County school district spokesperson Steve Hegarty.
Hegarty said engagement issues are most prevalent at the elementary level where the district is seeing the most cases of “zero activity,” or no logins at all, something Hegarty said is likely because parents with students in that age group need to be heavily involved.
The Hillsborough County school district reports nearly 99 percent of its students have connected with their teachers.
Attendance in Hillsborough is tracked weekly and monitored in a variety of ways, through student logins, completed assignments online and participation in meetings or conference calls with teachers.
“All staff members will work collaboratively to devise an immediate plan to connect with our learners,” said Hillsborough Superintendent Addison Davis, adding the district is working to reach out to students who had not yet engaged.
“We encourage our families to continue to communicate with teachers to discuss their immediate needs so that we can provide ongoing supports.”
The Pinellas County school district reports about 98 percent of its students have been in attendance online, a number mirroring attendance prior to school closures, according to a district spokesperson.
“We are committed to continuously improve our supports for our staff, students and families with the ultimate goal of reaching 100 percent student participation," Superintendent Michael Grego said in a statement.
In Pinellas, students must sign on each day and engage in academic work to be counted as present.
Power through
Traci Andrews, a teacher in Pinellas County, acknowledges parents' frustrations because she feels it, too.
Not only is Andrews juggling her fourth grade students, but also three young children of her own, including a five year old in kindergarten and a seven year old in first grade.
“I know that it’s a challenge and I’m trying to keep that in mind because I have to sit with my boys," Andrews said. "They need help."
Andrews said she surveyed her students' parents to gauge what kind of issues they were facing with the workload or communication. She said most of the feedback, so far, centers around technical issues.
While Andrews supports the decision to keep kids home, she doesn't agree the academic year should end early because of it.
"Everyday and every week we’re just working through it and I just say to parents I appreciate their help and partnership," she said.
"We can do this, it’s a few more weeks, and I know it’s different but different is not always bad.”
See remote learning resources from Tampa Bay-area districts:
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