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Alachua County School Board Postpones Reopening To Aug. 31

Alachua County School Board meeting
WUFT
/
The Florida Channel
The Alachua County School Board's motion is to allow the district to catch up on logistics and grant teachers an extension for training in virtual software.

The Alachua County School Board on Wednesday voted to delay the start of fall reopening — again. This is the second time the district has postponed the start of school since July.

The goal of the motion, as reasoned by board member Gunnar Paulson, was to allow the district to play catch-up on logistics and grant teachers an extension for training in virtual software, like Canvas by Instructure. With the start of school moved back one week, teachers’ pre-planning days will now run from Aug. 24 to Aug. 28 without compensation for the additional training days.

Before arriving at the action item of the meeting, the five-member school board received an advisory presentation from a council of local medical professionals, and was briefed on both the viability of challenging the governor’s authority over local school districts and what CARES Act relief funding might look for public school employees in fall.

Schools in the state closed early this past spring amid the global COVID-19 outbreak. Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has ordered all schools to offer in-person learning at least in some capacity this fall.