MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Starting March 30, the Manatee County School District says their 50,000 students will move to online learning.
Students will be expected to do assignments and course work from home using Schoology - an online learning program that the district says many teachers have already incorporated into their classroom learning.
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"The workbook, if it's at school it's not a worry. Students and teachers can just access the workbook online," said Dr. Shirin Gibson, executive director of curriculum for MCSD.
Using Schoology, the district says teachers can do video lessons and students can ask questions by messaging back and forth.
"Our goal is to ensure that our students do not lose a year of instruction, but our staff, our teachers, our employees are also safe to the best of our ability in this crazy, crazy situation," said Cynthia Saunders, Manatee County Schools superintendent.
The district says to help students learn, Spectrum is offering free internet for qualifying homes for 60 days.
"Our school administrators will identify those student who have a need whether that be a device or a hot spot," said Scott Hansen, chief technology officer of MCSD.
The districts say online schooling will last for two weeks from March 30 until April 10. Students are expected to return to school on April 15.
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"We know that if we continue our teaching and learning beginning the 30th of March, we will be able to meet the required number of minutes by the Department of Education, and we will be able to finish this school year as strongly as possible," said Saunders.
