A spokesperson for Orange County Public Schools confirms to News 6 that hundreds of teachers have received letters stating they won't be returning to their current positions next year, as the district deals with a drop in enrollment and budget cuts.

A gift for teaching is an amazing organization that supports teachers and schools.

The chief communications officer at Orange County Public Schools, gave our News 6 team a tour of the school to showcase the power of the half-cent sales tax. Orange County's is set to expire late next year.

After approving a new cell phone policy back in August, OCPS now wants to hear from parents, students and teachers about the new policy's impacts.

Orange County Public Schools said the district is on track for Riverdale Elementary School to re-open for the start of the school year, which is about a month away.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings on Wednesday held a news conference to discuss the county’s preparations and storm readiness, now faced with Tropical Storm Nicole.

After Riverdale Elementary School flooded due to heavy rainfall from Hurricane Ian, cleaning crews went to work to get it back in order ahead of the district's expected opening date.

Researchers predict omicron variant of the coronavirus is on the verge of peaking, but the virus continues to spread.

Orange County Public Schools is doing its part to help the county reach its goal to get at least 50% of students vaccinated by January 2022.

Orange County Public Schools will begin offering the coronavirus vaccine to students 5 years old and older.

Orange County children ages 5-11 could be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as the winter holiday season, local leaders announced at a Thursday news conference.

A father frustrated over what he said is a consistent problem when it comes to the buses that are supposed to take his son to school.

Orange County Public Schools is requiring masks through the end of October, unless a student has a medical exemption.

Growing numbers of children being diagnosed with COVID-19 in Central Florida are putting a strain on the resources used to track them in school.

Orange County Public Schools’ current mask policy, which is set to go into effect Aug. 2, makes masks optional for the upcoming school year.

The Orange County teachers union has called for a change to the mask policy that was just voted on one week ago by the Orange County school board.

On June 2, Orange County Public Schools will welcome nearly four times the amount of students usually seen for its summer school program, education officials said.

More than 1,500 students and their families along with other members of the community turned out to receive COVID-19 vaccinations at Colonial, Evans and Jones high schools Wednesday and Saturday, according to Orange County Public Schools.

As this school year comes to a close, and parents are wondering what next year might look like, Orange County Public Schools said they know there will be face-to-face learning and the pre-pandemic online option that’s always been available to families, called Orange County Virtual School.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools is partnering with the state to offer district employees COVID-19 vaccines Saturday and Sunday. Dozens of school district employees waited in line to get their shots outside of Ocoee High School Saturday morning. National guardsmen were also seen stationed at Colonial High School. The school district is hosting the walk-up vaccination sites at Colonial High School, East River High School, Freedom High School, Oak Ridge High School, and Ocoee High School. All OCPS employees, regardless of age or job title, are eligible to receive the vaccine at all Florida distribution sites.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – It’s been a year since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools across Florida forcing school districts to act fast and transition to virtual learning options. School leaders are now wondering what is next for online learning platforms. Spring break marks one year since Orange County students shifted from learning in the classroom to learning virtually. Many students chose to continue learning virtually this school year through LaunchEd@Home, the district’s online learning platform. AdHowat said as of now the only online learning option for the next school year is through Orange County Virtual School, which offers free online learning at the student’s own pace.

Seniors who were eager to protect themselves against COVID-19 formed long lines snaked around Orange County Convention Center’s north concourse for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine appointments on Tuesday. ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Educators, school staff, law enforcement officers and firefighters of any age as well as those who are medically vulnerable can now get the COVID-19 vaccine at the Orange County Convention Center site after the mayor announced the new expanded eligibility on Monday. Orange County officials said the registration portal operated by CDR Maguire is being updated with the new eligibility. AdDemings said the expansion at the convention center should help alleviate some confusion about where to get a shot. A news release from the county clarified that college professors are allowed to get vaccinated at the convention center.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s education leader says he hopes to have a decision on whether students can continue virtual learning next semester by sometime in November. Richard Corcoran, Florida Education Commissioner, toured Florida Virtual School in Orlando on Monday with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. DeVos had high marks for what Florida Virtual School had accomplished. She also praised the state’s school districts' abilities to adapt to online learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but she said in-person learning is still the preferred method of education. He said if the state does not extend the emergency declaration or include virtual learning at the district level, some parents may feel forced to enroll their children in private virtual schools.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Public School board members are set to discuss changes to face mask rules Tuesday for students, including requiring band members to wear masks with mouth-piece openings and bell covers for wind instruments to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The school board is scheduled to review changes to the school district’s mask rules during a workshop on Tuesday. According to the proposal, band members would be required to wear special face masks with slits while playing their instruments and use fabric covers over the end of wind instruments. OCPS school board members are set to discuss face mask rules later today....just as thousands of more students prepare to return for face-to-face learning next month. If approved, the new rules would go before a vote on Oct. 13 during a regular school board meeting.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County cheerleaders and band members are taking the field again for the first time in months after the school district announced they could participate in football games again. But now West Orange High School senior and varsity cheerleader Elisabeth Sirois finally got the news she waited for when the district announced they could return to the field during football games. The high school football season started last week. We can cheer, we just wouldn’t stunt.”School officials said cheerleaders, the band, dancers and ROTC can participate in the games. The district adds it will be up to the schools to make sure everyone at the football games are following safety guidelines.

Scott Howat with Orange County public schools said the district launched a dashboard and said they are still working to include a quarantine feature online, but provided the latest numbers. “Our last count from the department of health said we were at 988 students,” Howat said. Orange County School District announced they were putting their COVID-19 response plan into action on Friday and temporarily closing West Orange high school and pivoting students to LaunchEd. On the same day, the plan went into effect students enrolled at Olympia high school and opted for face-to-face instruction returned to campus after two weeks of quarantine. Orange County school district is expected to include the quarantine feature online this week.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – As part of a new initiative, Orange County is in the process of hiring a Licensed Practical Nurse or Registered Nurse for every public school in the county. If schools have particular programs like the ESE program, they might have to have an RN or LPN,” Jenkins said. The role of a school LPN includes providing medical care and services to students like administering prescriptions, treatments and addressing medical emergencies. “All of our schools either have a school health assistant or they have temp staff or they have nurses in place in all of our schools. A look at other Central Florida school districts shows there are school nurse openings throughout the region, including:

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The results are in for the first round of rapid coronavirus testing for Orange County Public Schools football players, coaches and trainers. Players and staff members from 19 schools were tested with the goal of limited the transmission of COVID-19 among players and opposing teams. OCPS said another round of rapid testing will take place in two weeks. Scott Howat, chief communications officer with Orange County Public Schools, said rapid testing will prevent COVID-19 cases from being spread to other schools as players begin competing against other teams. According to the OCPS coronavirus dashboard, 144 COVID-19 cases have been reported among students and staff members across the district since in-person learning resumed on Aug. 21.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Orange County health officer Dr. Raul Pino announced by law he will have to sharply curtail the release of COVID-19 data related to schools. The law said the department of health cant, Dr. Pino saidOrange Countys top COVID-19 official said he has been prohibited from releasing the information per Florida state statute. Its confidential information I cant continue to release that data, he said. Schools, superintendents, or school districts are advised that the department has provided confidential information only to them under the statute and rule. The adjustment coincides with the announcement from Orange County school officials saying they will release data every Tuesday and Friday through social media platforms as they work on a COVID-19 section of the districts website.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. On Monday morning, 212,000 students enrolled in Orange County Public Schools will be starting the 2020-2021 school year by logging on virtually on the districts LaunchEd at home platform. Orange County Public Schools held a news conference at the Academic Center for Excellence with four important things they wanted parents to know ahead of school starting Monday morning. "We know that this start may be choppy and a little rough," said Orange County Public Schools spokesperson Scott Howat. That was something asked for by the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, who declared an impasse in negotiations with the district Thursday. New curbside lunch pick-upUnlike how it was over the summer, school breakfast and lunch will no longer be free.

Orange County Public Schools’ board will be voting tomorrow on three options that will then be passed on to parents to select from. “It’s a big week, it’s an important week,” said Scott Howat, Orange County Public Schools chief communications officer. “The last work session was the most viewed work session or board meeting that we had ever had,” Howat said. Seminole County Public Schools’ board will be conducting two meetings on Tuesday. Seminole County Public Schools said both meetings can be viewed online.

WINDERMERE, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools conducted an active assailant response exercise at Windermere High School on Wednesday. [RELATED: What should you do if faced with an active shooter situation? | Students protect school, prepare classmates for active shooter situation]"This is all about a lot of improvements. The exercise began with a police officer who acted as an active shooter on campus making his way into a building. *TRAINING EXERCISE* Rescue workers are training to save victims in case of a mass shooting.