Summer school, once limited to high school students who needed to make up failed credits, is experiencing a massive expansion into all grades this year due to the academic losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The union says more kids in the classroom means less room for social distancing.
“We are concerned about the health of our parents, of our students, and our teachers,” said John Moreno Escobar, a parent who has a son at Sawgrass Elementary School.
“Aside from fighting for teachers we also need to challenge the consensus that we should be sending more kids to school and sacrificing the need to social distance,” said Rocco Diaz, a senior at Fort Lauderdale High School.
Rocco admitted that even if the number of students in his classes doubled, there would still be plenty of physical distancing space.
As COVID-19 spreads, some teachers and parents say Broward schools can't bring back large numbers of students and still maintain 6 feet of space between them, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Broward Schools are striving to make the new semester more traditional for students who arrive on campus, ensuring they learn in a classroom with a teacher and are not in a gym or auditorium with a laptop and headphones.