After a long Summer of deliberation and debate over the topic of whether, when, and how to reopen the schools, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Carvalho appeased the parents and teachers and reevaluated a plan that allowed all students to begin the year on a virtual platform, which would transition to a schoolhouse model accordingly. The guide took months of planning and decision making by a committee of medical experts, county officials, teachers, and more.

On August 31, 2020, approximately 345,000 students across the County logged onto a platform called My School Online (“MSO”) distance learning. For most of the morning and into the afternoon, many teachers and students faced the impact of a widespread crash on the MSO platform and were unable to participate in the planned school day. This delay left many students, teachers, and parents frustrated for at least three days. MDC Public Schools attributed the crash to cyberattacks, combined with software systems failure. Officials were able to catch early a cyberattack by one of MDC’s own high school students. The student found to have caused the cyberattacks has been charged for interference to an educational institution. The breach caused harm to teachers, students, and parents, as they continued to struggle to get schooling in.

After the recent school board meeting, where over 209 voicemails and written comments, and over 3.5 hours of public comments were submitted, the School Board voted to cancel the contract with K12, the virtual school service provider. Parents and teachers continue to speak out wanting a return to a schoolhouse learning platform. Currently, students are suffering through daily struggles online. These struggles, which are not evident in private schools with live classes or online learning over a different platform, are contributing to the education achievement gap. The opportunity gap is widened by this lack of learning and academics available to each student in the county school system. By September 30, a determination was to be made whether the Schoolhouse Model may begin to be implemented on October 5, or whether solely virtual learning shall continue. The school board vote, that took place a day and a half after the meeting started, pushed to have students return to schools starting on October 14, for those parents who opted for the schoolhouse model.

What is to come of the over 345,000 students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and their educations? What accommodations will MDCPS make for students struggling to adapt to an online format? What legal challenges might under-performing students have if they are unable to transition to in-person schooling? What remedies might MDCPS have against K12, for flaws in implementation of their online format county-wide, and their vulnerability to cyberattack? MDCPS aims to serve the best interest of the student in trying to bring the best model of learning to their students in the new COVID-19 world. There is no way to please all parents, students, and teachers, but the legal process for dealing with the next phase in the opening of schools must account for not only new litigation, but the opportunity of the students. MDCPS must balance the interests of parents and students who mostly want to return to in-person schooling with the interests of teachers and other school employees, who are concerned for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, MDCPS must comply with Federal, State and local regulations regarding COVID-19.