Manatee Schools to Use Spring Break to Prepare for Remote Learning

BRADENTON – By order of the governor, public school students in the state of Florida will not return to school until Wednesday, April 15–at the very earliest. State accountability testing and school grades will be canceled for this academic year due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the Manatee County School District will prepare to deliver lessons to their students on a remote basis by March 30.

Florida school districts will begin using "Instructional Continuity Plans“ designed to ensure students are able to continue their course work even though they are not able to physically attend school with the additional challenge of doing it for the entire student body.

In Manatee County, that plan involves a learning management system named Schoology, which teachers use to create lessons, design content and communicate with students. Schoology gives teachers the ability to prepare and deliver lessons to their students on a remote basis.

Manatee District employees will the upcoming week (March 23-27) to ramp up the capabilities necessary to deliver instruction to students at home on Monday, March 30.

"Next week will be extremely important for all of our teachers, principals, administrators and support personnel to make sure everything is in order and we are fully prepared to meet the needs of our students,“ said Superintendent Cynthia Saunders in a release. "We will also be providing parents with important information on how this will work and how their students can continue to get the lessons they need to successfully complete this school year.“

Superintendent Saunders was meeting with her Cabinet Tuesday afternoon when the governor’s plans regarding schools were announced.

"Right now we are fully focused on what we all need to do next week to help our students,“ Saunders said. "I know that our 8,000 employees will rise to the occasion and do everything possible to end this school year on a positive note for our students, parents, and community.“