Duval County Public Schools reopening plan

JACKSONVILLE. Fla. — The Duval County school board approved moving the first day of school to Aug. 20 to provide the district with more time “to prepare buildings and classrooms to mitigate against spread of COVID-19 and for teachers to prepare for the learning options available to students.”

Under the new reopening plan, students at all grade levels are provided with options of returning to the school building or learning from their home through online instruction.

Action News Jax provided the district’s detailed explanation of the options below:

“At-School and Hybrid Bridge Option: The at-school options are different depending on grade level.

Elementary school students will have the option of returning to the school building five days a week beginning Aug. 20, the new first day of school.

Middle school and high school students will begin on a hybrid “bridge” schedule, meaning they will attend school part of the week and learn from home on the other days. This hybrid model would be in place until Sept. 14 when all secondary students are expected to return to a five day a week schedule.

“The hybrid bridge schedule reduces the number of people in the building and improves the capability for social distancing,” said Dr. Greene. “The target date to return to five days at school, Sept. 14, enables us to evaluate how pandemic conditions change with the reopening of school and the upcoming political convention.”

Under the hybrid bridge model, sixth grade students will be in the school four days a week. Seventh and eighth grade students will be in the school three days a week, and high school students will be in their schools two days each week when the school year begins.

RELATED: Duval Virtual Instruction Academy: How to enroll

Online Options: In addition to the at-school learning options, all kindergarten through grade 12 students have the option for full-time distance learning through Duval HomeRoom. The deadline for registration into this option is has been extended to July 31. Families can also choose full virtual education through Duval Virtual Instruction Academy. There are also in-school and at-home learning options for students with exceptionalities. The details of all options are available on the district’s back-to-school website.”

Cox Media Group