Dade County Schools push reopening to Aug. 13

Dade County Schools announced on July 28 that the original plan to reopen schools on Aug. 7 has been moved to Aug. 13.

 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jan Irons Harris said that the change was made after faculty and staff questioned if the teachers were trained well enough for handling COVID-19 and virtual school. The biggest concern was ensuring that all teachers were trained to assist students who decided to switch from virtual learning to traditional school and vice versa.

 

“The teachers need to be well trained on it,” Harris said. “We’re asking for four days to be used to learn [the APEX and Schools PLP] platforms, incorporate new procedures for the daily operation of each school, and learn more about safety protocols.”

 

Harris said that the anxiety from teachers was high and more time would help ease their nerves about the school year.

 

Harris also said that many protocol changes are in place for the school year from day-to-day operations to lunch and recess.

 

“We’re basically redesigning school,” Harris said.