Public schools will remain closed until April 15 and state testing is canceled according to Gov. Ron DeSantis

DORAL, FL – Florida public schools from K to 12 grade will remain closed until April 15, as announced this Tuesday afternoon by Governor Ron DeSantis.

During his intervention, DeSantis also mentioned that all required testing for Florida’s K-12 public schools as well as evaluation grades will be canceled, while pointing out that students will be automatically promoted to the next grade. Parents will have the option to hold their kids back a year if they choose to.

This means that requirements for graduation and promotion and final course grades will be evaluated as if the state assessments didn’t exist. 

In addition, it was announced that state education commissioner Richards Corcoran may reduce the required K-12 instructional hours to accommodate for closures.

As far as reopening the schools or not in the long term, the state has not made a final decision on this matter and it’s still evaluating if education will continue working online or not.

Districts have been instructed to spend unspent funds from the 2019 and 2020 school years to help low-income students purchase digital devices to help with virtual learning. Funds can also be spent on virtual mental health services.