Orange County Public Schools tables decision on reopening plan until Friday

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County school district is proposing pushing the first day of school back by 11 days from August 10 to August 21.

After hours of public comment Tuesday, the district voted to table the meeting until 9 a.m. Friday for a decision only.

Board Chairwoman Teresa Jacobs suggested tabling the meeting to address the mental fatigue of another long meeting, and because two members who were calling in couldn’t consistently participate due to technical issues.

After being asked why they weren’t wearing a mask, all the board members in the room put on a mask while speaking.

Read: Orange County officials to discuss pushing back start of school year, other counties plan students’ return to classroom

The district is proposing offering parents three options for students.

- Face-to-face, in-classroom learning.

- Full-time virtual school with Orange County Virtual School.

- LaunchED digital learning program, which will be an option for families who want to stay connected to the school but don’t feel comfortable sending them back into the classroom just yet.

Orange County Public Schools said the county currently has an enrollment of 213,095 students and almost 24,000 employees in 188 schools.

Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said Tuesday the options will allow parents to have a combined in-class and distance learning options.

She also announced teachers will be allowed to teach either from the classroom or at home.

The meeting is still in progress and the board chair partially joked earlier that she wasn't sure if it would end within 24 hours.

The district said more than 250 people reached out Tuesday morning to speak about the back-to-school plan. Each caller or speaker is given three minutes to speak, so that would be more than 12 hours.

Read: Keeping track of back-to-school plans in Central Florida

Click here or scroll below to read the school district’s full response plan:

Video: Orange County officials to discuss pushing back start of school year Channel 9?s Karla Ray learned early Tuesday that Orange County school officials plan to discuss pushing back the start of school to August 21.

Cox Media Group