POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County Public Schools released its plan to reopen schools in the fall along with survey results after receiving thousands of comments.
In the fall, the school district will offer both on-campus learning and virtual options with the abilities for families to choose whether they wish to have their students return to a physical classroom.
For on-campus learning, the school district said health and safety precautions may include:
- Screening students, teachers and staff for coronavirus symptoms
- Frequent and enhanced sanitation of campuses
- Installing hand sanitizer stations throughout campuses
- Posting signage about good hygiene habits to prevent the spread of illness
Those who do not want their student to return to school can have them enroll in Polk Virtual School to take classes online, which are still taught by Polk County Public Schools teachers.
The school district also shared survey results from parents, employees and other community members. The school district said these were the questions asked:
- How the school district should address student usage of masks
- Opening schools for the fall semester
- Continuation of distance learning
- Various impacts to PCPS students and employees
- Sanitizing of school buildings
- Suggestions for additional safety measures
According to the results, after the district received more than 8,600 comments, 38 percent of respondents feel comfortable with students returning to school in August. Thirty-four percent said they do not feel comfortable with it.
When it came to masks, 43 percent said they are not comfortable with students wearing a mask on campus and 38 percent said they were not comfortable with students riding the bus if masks are worn and hand sanitizer is used.
Overall, 44 percent said they would prefer students resume in-person learning with proper safety measures while 27 percent said they would like to continue distance learning or a combination of virtual and in-person learning.
You can read the full results here.
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