{"id":2406,"date":"2021-03-23T10:09:30","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T14:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/?p=2406"},"modified":"2021-08-26T09:38:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T13:38:33","slug":"exclusive-interview-with-superintendent-tim-forson-desk-dividers-gone-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/23\/exclusive-interview-with-superintendent-tim-forson-desk-dividers-gone-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive interview with superintendent Tim Forson- desk dividers gone next year?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Chipper Carvin-Jones and Roberto Lachner<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s become clear that even though the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is visible, there\u2019s still a long way to go before reaching full normality once again. In a CNN town hall, President Joe Biden revealed that his administration\u2019s realistic expectations were that \u201cby next Christmas I think we\u2019ll be in a very different circumstance\u2026\u201d And while Florida Schools have been open since September, questions have already started to arise as to how schools will adapt to the pandemic-ending strategies. Tim Forson, Superintendent of St. Johns County School District, sat down to discuss the efficacy of the county\u2019s current response to the pandemic, as well as how the School District will deal with the apparent continuation of Coronavirus during the 2021-22 school year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re going to make sure we operate our schools as safely as possible.”<\/p>Tim Forson<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Forson expressed his desire to roll back some regulations as the pandemic subsides during the next school year, revealing that students will likely not see desk dividers in classrooms, as they are extremely disruptive especially for elementary school students. At the same time, Mr. Forson wants to \u201cmake sure we operate our schools as safely as possible,\u201d meaning that \u201cuntil there\u2019s some much larger percentages, [of vaccinated individuals] we\u2019re not going to see much change till then.\u201d All district roll backs in regulations will be driven first and foremost by CDC recommendations,<\/strong> meaning that masks are here to stay for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 With the approval of three separate vaccines against COVID, the question is raised as to what impact they will have on schools, and whether students will be required to receive it, as they are for other diseases such as Chicken Pox and Measles. The Superintendent stated that though he hasn\u2019t investigated the possibility of mandatory vaccinations for students, it\u2019s \u201cnot the path we\u2019ve decided to go on\u201d<\/strong> anyway. He also revealed that the list of mandatory vaccinations is created and enforced by the Florida Department of Health, not the school district, so It\u2019s not in his office\u2019s power to require any specific vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\"\"<\/div>
Mr Forson, Chipper Jones, and Roberto Lachner during the interview<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 None of that is to say that the superintendent necessarily is against vaccinations for COVID; he expressed his belief that vaccinations are an important \u201cpart of the puzzle.\u201d<\/strong> Mr. Forson stated that since the school district is \u201cin the business of education,\u201d they have a \u201cresponsibility to make sure everyone\u2019s aware of the opportunity [to get vaccinated].\u201d He also endorses the idea of moving teachers \u201cup the scale of vaccination\u201d for them to be able to receive one of the vaccines \u201casap\u201d if they desire it. Since the interview, Governor Ron DeSantis\u2019 Executive Order Number 21-47 has moved teachers up the list and are currently receiving the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The Superintendent noted that the district is \u201cdoing as much as possible\u201d in quarantining students and teachers and that it has been working; PVHS has, at times, had more than 300 students quarantined at one time. Mr. Forson also revealed that \u201cseldom\u201d does a quarantined student or staff member come back positive as a result of exposure to the virus at school from another person, suggesting that the district is doing a good job at preventing the virus\u2019s spread at school. He does, however, understand the frustration of many students and teachers at the difficulty of quarantine on them, saying that it is \u201cdisruptive\u201d on students\u2019 learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The Superintendent also weighed in on how distance learning has been used by students, specifically for \u201cwrong reasons<\/strong>\u201d such as to avoid being quarantined to play a sport. He says that such volatility in who is a distance learner has made \u201cteachers stress[ed] out;\u201d the program\u2019s original purpose was to protect students who are in frequent contact with high-risk individuals or are one themselves. Mr. Forson has expressed interest in \u201cphasing out distance learning by the next school year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   He also closed by saying that \u201cteachers definitely deserve an \u2018A\u2019\u201d as their rating for how they have dealt with the virus, dealing with distance learners, dividers, and an overall new form of teaching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chipper Carvin-Jones and Roberto Lachner \u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s become clear that even though the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is visible, there\u2019s still a long way to go before reaching full normality once again. In a CNN…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-23-at-9.57.17-AM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2411,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions\/2411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}