OCALA, Fla. — In Marion County, 70 percent of all parents and guardians want their children to go back to traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, according to a recent survey given out by the school district.
What You Need To Know
- New Marion Schools superintendent started during pandemic lockdown
- She says district is ready for 70% of kids to return to brick-and-mortar classrooms
- BACK TO SCHOOL: Full coverage of the return to instruction amid a pandemic
Compared with other Central Florida counties, Marion has not seen a sharp rise in positive coronavirus test results.
With that in mind, Superintendent Dr. Diane Gullett says her district of 43,000 students has to follow specific protocols when school begins Monday.
Gullett is the district's first school board-appointed superintendent. She was hired in April and began her job in July — right in the middle of the pandemic.
"We have different circumstances, and so a lot of things we've done in the past have to be done differently," Gullett said.
Gullett says the Marion school system is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended guidelines for safe school opening. But fully reopening safely with 70 percent of students physically in classrooms is an undertaking no other Central Florida school district has had to attempt.
"Nothing has been decided about any required testing (for coronavirus)," Gullett said. "Understanding that at the guidance of the Department of Health, if someone is tested, it is only valid at the time of the testing. It's a snapshot in time.”
The School Board voted to mandate the use of face masks for all students ages 5 and up, and all teachers will be provided plastic face shields.
“They have the curved aspect of them so that they have the full covering, and that allows for our students to see facial expressions and articulation of sounds from our teachers," Gullett said.
She says her district will be able to quickly pivot if children decide to stop virtual and come back to brick-and-mortar classrooms.
"What we call a second interruption... (we're) now calling a possible perpetual interruption. But we will make sure that if there needs to be an interruption, or that they are sent home, that they can get back to online instruction," she said of her district's students.