In the order, the state’s education commissioner, Richard Corcoran, declared that all brick-and-mortar schools must be open for instruction at least five days a week. Remote learning will still be an option, according to the order, but any parent who wants their child to receive in-person class instruction from a teacher will have that request fulfilled, as it falls into the “full array of services” all schools are expected to provide. “Education is critical to the success of the state and to an individual, and extended school closures can impede the educational success of students, impact families’ well-being and limit many parents and guardians from returning to work,” Corcoran wrote in the order. The order came despite Florida being the current home of one of the worst outbreaks of the pandemic. The state reported nearly 7,350 new cases on July 7, bringing its total to almost 213,800.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Though the new order did state that schools would be allowed to close should local health officials deem them too unsafe to operate, it wasn’t enough to alleviate the shock many educators felt when they heard they will be required to return to school in just a matter of weeks. “I can think of no other industry forcing an entire workforce into such an unsafe environment,” Amy Spies, a fourth-grade teacher in Daytona Beach, told NBC News. “It is physically impossible to meet [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] social distancing requirements if schools are at full capacity.” And for more on how coronavirus is affecting students, check out 1 Million People May Need to Leave the U.S. for This Reason in the Fall.
