ORLANDO, Fla. – Can you imagine a school year without a summer vacation?
Some Florida students will soon be part of an experiment to experience that.
Recommended Videos
Gov. DeSantis this week signed HB 891 into law, establishing a four-year pilot program for year-round schooling in Florida.
State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, who sponsored the Senate version of the bipartisan bill, said the purpose of the program is to see if learning losses decrease over the summer.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
“When they start the new year, at the new grade level, they have to review everything they learned from the last semester that they were in school,” Stewart said. “So, they have to do a lot more before they can even get to their grade-level learning.”
Stewart also said year-round school may be a better solution to the problem of daycare in the summer.
“A lot of times, both parents work. They don’t have places for their kids to go, and I think the year-round school might allow them to feel better that their child is in school, and learning,” Stewart said.
The program would establish the pilot program at elementary schools in five Florida school districts.
Districts may apply to participate in the program, and the state education commissioner will choose the school districts, with an eye toward having a mix of schools from different backgrounds (urban, suburban, rural schools) in the program.
The program would begin in the 2024-25 school year. At the conclusion of four years, the education commissioner will provide a report and recommendation to the governor and the Florida Legislature on whether to implement year-round school for all students.
Year-round schooling is not a novel concept. Countries like Japan, Australia, China and India have year-round schooling. Other countries have students in school for longer periods.
American students go to school for about 180 days a year, with a months-long break over the summer and smaller breaks during the school year. But some school districts in other states, including Washington, Michigan and Tennessee, have what is called a “balanced calendar,” which changes the way those 180 days are distributed to allow for more even break periods.
It’s not known how the pilot program would distribute break periods for students.
Information from News Service of Florida is used in this report.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: