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Broward Father Upset His 6-Year-Old Son Will Have Teacher Changed As County Returns To In-Person Learning

BROWARD (CBSMiami) – The first students in Broward County Public Schools will be back in a classroom Friday. Those are pre-K through second grade. But Walter Milner's 6-year-old son won't be one of them.

"This pandemic has been hard on everyone. It has been especially hard on the children. All of us as parents should feel they should be in school, that's the ideal thing," Milner said.

As schools are preparing to reopen in Broward, principals and district leaders are also making last minute changes. That is impacting students for in-person learning and those staying online.

"My son's teacher is going to be changed. Literally, the next day he goes to school, he's going to have a different teacher," Milner said.

This is once again not a typical school year. So, Milner believes changing a teacher should not be happening, especially to small children. He also told CBS4's Ty Russell his child's school is losing teachers because of enrollment. The district hasn't confirmed.

"Literally just getting adjusted to his teacher," he said.

Navigating the road to reopening has been rough. The state mandated South Florida schools to offer in-person learning sooner than local leaders had planned. Districts then scrambled to get ready faster.

"All these rules are being put on the county that make it worse for our children," Milner said.

Milner believes his child is one among many who will suffer.

"I understand funding is tied to enrollment but in a pandemic, those rules should be changed. The funding should stay what it was at normal levels or even be increased," Milner said.

Districts are funded mainly from state sales and property taxes. The state previously threatened to take away its part of the money for keeping schools closed. A Florida emergency order keeps funding similar to pre-COVID levels for fall. But districts are preparing for that to change in January because of the plummeting sales tax revenue.

The younger children start Friday. Others will start next week Tuesday and the rest will be back next week Thursday.

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