M-DCPS Transitions To Stage II Of Reopening Of Schools Plan

From the Miami-Dade County Public Schools:

September 29, 2020

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is
transitioning to Stage II of its Reopen Smart, Return Safe reopening plan.
On Tuesday, the Miami-Dade School Board voted unanimously to authorize the
Superintendent to reopen schools for students beginning Monday, October 5.
Students whose parents opted for the Schoolhouse model in July will begin to
return to school sites on Monday, October 5, with a phased-in approach, by
grade level, which will be completed by Friday, October 9. Students whose
parents selected My School Online (MSO) when surveyed in July will remain
engaged in distance learning.

The safety of students, employees and their
families has been the primary guiding principle throughout the District’s reopening
efforts. Given that commitment, and in alignment with the recommendations
provided by public health experts, the physical return will be staggered by
grade levels, providing for a reduced school capacity and allowing for the testing
of protocols and potential adjustments, prior to schools operating at full
Stage II capacity.

The reopening phase-in schedule will
occur among the following student groups (whose parents opted into the
Schoolhouse model), as outlined below:

Students
will be returning to school through a staggered process with Pre-K,
Kindergarten and 1st graders, and students with special needs who
are on a modified curriculum, returning on Monday, October 5th. Grades 2-6 and
9-10 will return on Wednesday, October 7th while grades 7-8 and 11-12 will return
on Friday, October 9th.

Friday, October 2 will be a teacher
planning day to
allow teachers the opportunity to further arrange their classrooms, engage in additional
lesson planning and other activities to assist in their preparation to welcome
students back. There will be no school for students that day. This will have no
impact on the instructional time already allocated for this school year.

It is also important to note that ALL high
school schedules will revert to a 7:20 a.m. start time beginning October
7, in both the Schoolhouse model and My School Online.

Parents have begun receiving a
notification card in the mail, to serve as a
reminder of which
learning model they selected during the July opt-in period. Students should
be ready to present these notification cards to physically enter their schools
on their assigned return date. Parents may also review their selection
through their child’s Student Portal or the Dadeschools mobile app. Those
students whose parents opted for the Schoolhouse Model AND who are eligible for
District transportation are also being provided with their transportation
information.

School administrators will have the discretion
to make limited exceptions for parents who wish to change their initial
selection. To request a change, parents must contact their child’s school to
complete a change of declaration form. Any exceptions will be made based upon
the specific conditions of each school’s in-person enrollment to ensure social
distancing measures are not compromised.

Parents are urged to talk to their children and
emphasize the importance of personal responsibility and the proper utilization
of facial coverings at all times, while on school campuses and school buses.
Parents are also asked to conduct a daily health screening of their children,
as outlined in the District’s reopening guide, prior to sending them to school.

The decision to transition to Stage II of the
District’s reopening plan was made in light of Miami-Dade County’s transition
to Phase II of reopening, the marked improvements seen in the series of health
metrics identified by medical and public health experts, guidance from the
State, and the school system’s overall level of readiness in terms of
workforce, facilities and all necessary protocols.

For the past several months, M-DCPS has been
preparing for the reopening of schools through intensive and continuous deep
sanitization, maintenance and physical modification of school sites; securing
of Personal Protection Equipment, the development of protocols and processes to
ensure social distancing at all times; a contact tracing and investigation program
and data dashboard to ensure the dissemination of real-time COVID-19 related
information, and much more.

Visit reopening.dadeschools.net to read the
complete M-DCPS Reopen Smart, Return Safe guide in English, Spanish or
Haitian-Creole.

For the most up-to-date information, please
download the Dadeschools mobile app to your iPhone or Android device. Follow us
on Twitter @mdcps and @miamisup, on Instagram @miamischools and @miamisup, and on Facebook at MiamiSchools and AlbertoCarvalho

This press release was produced by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.