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Broward School Board Meets To Discuss Reopening Plans

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Broward School Board met Tuesday to discuss their reopening schedule.

"I think we should keep the timeline we have, we can expand upon it but our administrators need all the advance planning to open our schools," said Schools chief Robert Runcie.

The Broward School Board agreed to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday morning.

The meeting came after state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a letter to the district on September 25 informing them to come up with a plan to get students who want to go back to class back in schools by Oct. 5.

In a letter to the district, Corcoran said if they couldn't reopen by October 5th, they would have to prove exemptions on a school by school basis by this Friday. A similar letter was sent to the Miami-Dade School district.

Broward's School Board had previously passed a plan to have a staggered return of students to classrooms.

Pre-K, kindergarten, first grade, sixth grade, ninth-grade students, and some with special needs would return October 14th. The rest would return Tuesday, October 20th.

In the letter, Corcoran said he had "grave concerns" over this plan and asked Superintendent Robert Runcie why they couldn't reopen sooner. He said the delay hurts kids academically.

Runcie replied to Corcoran that the mid-October opening dates are consistent with the reopening plan that the state had already approved.

The district feels it needs the extra time get everything ready and have logistics worked out. Many teachers have expressed concern about the schools not being ready to reopen on October 5th.

All other Florida school districts have already opened for face-to-face learning.

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