On Tuesday, April 13, Broward County Public Schools announced students would be learning in-person 100% of the time this fall, ending over a year of virtual learning for most students. The announcement was made at a board workshop by Superintendent Robert Runcie, and later to parents and students via the district BECONTV platform.

“I feel safe, as I have just received my first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine and am soon to get my second one,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School junior Hannah Leon said. “I feel like a lot of people are getting vaccinated lately.”

In addition to announcing in-person learning, Runcie established that the district will not offer any sort of remote or hybrid learning. For parents who would like their children to continue the next school year virtually, they have the choice to enroll in Broward Virtual School. 

Runcie cited two main factors in this decision: the challenges brought on by the pandemic and the vaccine rollout. 

“My recommendation is, in large part based on our experiences this past year, which have highlighted the academic, social and emotional challenges that many of our students have had with the remote learning,” Runcie said at the workshop. “We know some certainly have been successful, but there have been many, that it’s certainly been a big challenge.”

Runcie continued by discussing the recent increase in COVID-19 vaccination availability to teachers, school staff and students 16 years of age.

“I feel excited about the news to go back to school because I feel I excel during in-person school rather than online,” junior Kendall Slack said. 

The news of BCPS’s 2021-2022 school year plan was joined by Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the School District of Palm Beach, who both announced their students would be 100% in-person as well. 

Click here to view the announcement.