Superintendent Rocky Hanna Addresses Reopening Questions at Business Meeting

Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna addressed questions about reopening Leon County Schools in a presentation to the Network of Entrepreneurs and Business Advocates (NEBA) on June 23.

He said the reopening task force is in the process of finalizing the reopening plan, which will be presented to parents on July 1.

So far, the district plans to reopen schools on Aug. 10 and give parents the option to choose between brick-and-mortar or distance learning, deciding by semester.

Hanna discussed how distance learning will change in the fall, noting that every student will have their own device. In June, the Leon County School Board voted to purchase 32,500 Chromebooks—one for each student in the district.

The district will also consolidate to only one distance learning platform, Canvas. Additionally, the district is in negotiations to use Florida Virtual School’s curriculum.

“We’re in negotiations with Florida Virtual School to get their content, which is aligned to all of our standards by grade and by course. And we pull all their content and load it onto this learning management system that our kids can access and do assessments on,” Hanna said.

Hanna also discussed how an in-person school day would change in the fall.

He said the reopening plan includes screening and taking the temperature of every child first thing every day. A child with a fever would go to a separate area to wait for a parent to pick them up. If the child tested positive for COVID-19, the Leon County Health Department would conduct contract tracing.

He said classes will adhere to social distancing guidelines, including putting up dividers, spreading out, and wearing masks when necessary.

Hanna noted that there is a possibility that students who choose brick and mortar learning may get sent home again in October or November because of a second wave of COVID-19. In this case, class loads would be split to make it easier for students to manage them.

“One thing we found is it was hard for a kid to manage six teachers in six classes at the same time,” he said.

One month, students would focus on three of their classes, and then they would switch to the other three classes in the second month.

There are still many unknowns, including what arts and athletics will look like in the upcoming school year. Hanna said they will be addressed at a later date, and decisions will likely be made by mid-July.