SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Central Florida school districts are responding after the Florida Department of Education announced Wednesday the state is allowing districts to continue distance and remote learning for the spring semester. News 6 contacted local school districts to get their reactions. Seminole County Public Schools spokesperson Michael Lawrence said this will allow students, parents and teachers to continue having more learning options. Currently school districts receive the same amount of funding per student if they’re learning face to face or remotely. Lawrence said school districts need those funds to continue offering remote learning options.

Whether your children have already begun their school year or you’re still preparing, due to delays, there are many who are choosing to keep their kids home to learn as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Parents are doing their best to adapt, and we applaud every parent for the decision they’re making -- regardless of what that is. But for those who are keeping kids home for virtual learning, we want to see exactly how you’re adapting. What does the “classroom” you’ve created look like? We’d love to see what kinds of ideas parents have come up with, and we have a feeling other parents might appreciate some good ideas, too.

At least a third of children couldn’t access remote learning when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, creating “a global education emergency,” the U.N. children’s agency said. At the height of lockdowns meant to curb the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, UNICEF said. “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said. The highest number of children affection by region were in South Asia, at least 147 million, according to the report. The youngest children are also most likely to miss out on remote learning during critical years, the report said, largely due to challenges and limitations to online learning for young children and lack of assets at home.

If you need help with the Public File, call 407-291-6000. Copyright © 2020 ClickOrlando.com is managed by Graham Digital and pubished by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings.