LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Lee County School District is asking parents to choose which style of learning their child will be attending next semester, in-person or virtual, by 5 p.m. Sunday.
This decision comes less than two weeks after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed his education plan for the state.
During his press conference, he stated that he would like to see more students back in school buildings next year.
"The data and the evidence are overwhelmingly clear, the virtual learning is just not the same as being in person," says DeSantis.
He believes virtual learning is causing some students to fall behind, and that as a result, schools need to speak more closely with parents about transitioning from virtual school to in-person learning.
"If somebody is in virtual and they’re failing, and they’re falling behind, schools have got to reach out to that parent and lay it on the line for them. Say here’s what’s happening this is not good, you need to send your kid back," says DeSantis.
This is why the Lee County School District needs parents to fill out those forms. They want as much time as possible to prepare for students returning to the classroom.
"Here’s the difficulty. If you’ve got a classroom of like 30 kids right now, and you have another 15 to 20 kids that want to come back, then the schools have to have time to figure out schedules, some sort of class sizing and curriculum and all of that to make that work," says Lee County School Board member Gwynetta Gittens.
If you would like to change your child's learning model, fill out the form here.
