VCS Acts On State’s Updated Emergency Order

DeLand, FL – Volusia County Schools says now that Governor Ron DeSantis has updated the emergency order for schools, they will definitely be offering online learning, such as Volusia Live and Volusia Online Learning, during the spring semester. Volusia County School Board District 5 member Ruben Colon says the updated order will give the district the funds to support the online learning programs. "We were truly excited to hear that our funding would not be impacted. That’s one of the risks that we were taking is that if they did not approve the extension of the emergency order, which allowed us to do it previously, that funding would be impacted." Colon says the updated emergency order includes a provision requiring school districts to notify parents if their virtual student is struggling academically – a practice already in place at Volusia County Schools. "Sending out those letters was not popular, they definitely got the parents’ attention. In fact, we have been praised by the state for the progress monitoring that we have been doing all along." In November, after a mid-term evaluation of grades, thousands of students returned to the Traditional Classroom option. At this time, about 75% of VCS students are in the Traditional Classroom, 15% in Volusia Live (virtual, real-time, live streaming), and 10% in the Volusia Online Learning option (more flexible scheduling).