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Foundation for Rural Education Excellence
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Supporting Academic Achievement in
Rural Northeast Florida Communities
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The Foundation for Rural Education Excellence, a registered 501 (C)(3) organization, was founded in 1998 to facilitate philanthropic support for rural school districts of the
North East Florida Educational Consortium
(NEFEC): Baker, Bradford, Columbia,
Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee and Union Counties as well as Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Working collaboratively, our mission is to enhance academic success and career opportunities for rural students in northeast Florida.
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Please be safe during this challenging time. We will get through this as our rural communities are strong and resilient.
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School Districts Work Tirelessly Preparing for Remote Instruction, Food Distribution
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All school districts in Florida are preparing for continuous instructional programs during the period that schools are closed. In addition, districts are coordinating programs to provide 1 -2 meals a day for students while they are out of school. For specific information about your local school district’s instructional and meal plans us the following link:
Link to School District Websites
The following actions of the Florida Department of Education became effective March 17:
School Districts
All public and private K-12 and career and technical center campuses are closed through April 15, 2020.
- Schools are encouraged to operate virtually or through other non-classroom-based means to the greatest extent possible to implement distance learning.
- School districts should be prepared to extend their educational calendars through June 30, 2020, to the extent feasible and necessary.
- For Collier, Duval, Sumter and Union County school districts, which are all completing their extended spring break on March 20, 2020, school campuses will remain closed through April 15, 2020, although they will begin instruction virtually on March 23.
- To support students with identified IEP-related services who may have a disruption in services, school districts are given flexibility for the remainder of the school year to provide alternative services or delay services until later in the summer months, in coordination with a student’s parents and IEP team.
Assessments, Accountability and Promotion
- All remaining assessments for school readiness, voluntary prekindergarten and K-12 assessments are cancelled for the 2019-2020 school year.
- Requirements for graduation and promotion, and final course grades will be evaluated as though those assessments which were cancelled did not exist.
- K-12 school grades will not be calculated for 2019-2020 and schools in turnaround may continue their current status for 2020-2021 to avoid disruption to school leadership and operations.
- Eligibility for Florida Bright Futures scholarships shall be based on available data and results. Tests that were not available to be taken shall not be counted.
Instructional Hours
- The Commissioner may reduce required instructional hours as necessary to accommodate for closures.
Funding
- The Florida Department of Education and K-12 school districts are instructed to redirect unspent 2019-2020 funds from Reading Scholarship Accounts, the Reading Instruction Allocation, the Digital Classroom Allocation and the Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program to help low-income students purchase digital devices and establish Internet services.
- In order to facilitate the remote connection between teachers and students, K-12 school districts are further permitted to redirect unspent Title 2 funds to help low-income students purchase digital devices and establish Internet services.
- K-12 school districts are permitted to redirect unspent 2019-2020 funds from the Safe Schools and Mental Health allocations to virtual and telephonic mental health counseling services for students who need emotional support due to COVID-19.
- All school readiness, voluntary prekindergarten, K-12, career and technical centers and state college programs will receive their full allocation of funding, and therefore staff and contractors can be paid fully, through June 30, 2020, as though there was no disruption in education.
Teachers
- For the next 120 days, exam fees for teacher certification-related examinations will be waived, and test takers who were unable to take an exam due to test site locations closing will be granted an extension to meet these requirements.
District School Board and State College Board of Trustees Meetings
All district school board and state college board of trustees meetings through June 30, 2020, are postponed and may only be scheduled for emergency purposes only by the respective school district superintendent or college president.
- These meetings must be convened virtually or telephonically.
- If there is a vacancy or inability to serve on the part of the superintendent or college president, then the respective board chair may convene an emergency meeting.
- School districts and state colleges must ensure that meetings held by virtual means are accessible by interested members of the public.
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22nd Annual Golf Tournament
FREE's annual golf tournament is re-scheduled for June 26, 2020, at the Palatka Golf Club. For more information or to register to play, click on the link below:
Re-scheduled date: June 26, 2020
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Summer Leadership Conference
NEFEC's Annual Summer Leadership Conference is scheduled for
July 20-21, 2020, at the Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
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Foundation for Rural Education Excellence
(352) 317-0621
foundationruraled@gmail.com
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