Saturday, August 29, 2020
Okaloosa County, FL — Okaloosa County School Board Chairman Tim Bryant discusses the emergency school board meeting that occurred on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 and what to expect this coming school year.
Chairman Bryant sat down for an interview on our public affairs program. During the interview Chairman Bryant stated that the reason he called the emergency school board meeting was to allow the community to voice their concerns about the upcoming school year and the hot topic of face coverings.
Chairman Bryant advised the meeting lasted a record breaking 6 ½ hours which provided 76 callers and 16 people that were in attendance to voice their concerns. Each person was allotted 4 minutes.
As a result of the meeting, the school board made the decision that face coverings will be strongly recommended at school and will not be mandatory. However, face coverings will be mandatory on school buses with very few exceptions.
Chairman Bryant also touched on returning to school via in person, on-line and by home schooling. Of the nearly 31,000 students enrolled in the Okaloosa County School District, 30% chose to use the on-line option. Chairman Bryant further discussed what to expect on the first day back and that parents will have limited access to schools from this point forward during the pandemic.
Along with what to expect this coming school year, we also talked about the up coming vote in November on the 1/2 cent sales tax to fund capital improvements on the aging schools in Okaloosa County.
The following is the policy effective August 26, 2020 concerning Face Coverings During COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency
A complete list of all documents, policies and forms can be found here: https://www.okaloosaschools.com/district/docs.