Florida Department of Education preparing virtual school as coronavirus concerns grow

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – As Florida navigates the current situation involving coronavirus, the state’s Department of Education is preparing teachers for the possibility of holding classes through Florida Virtual School.

After Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Monday, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said the state would prepare to train 10,000 of the state’s 180,442 public school teachers to become fluent in Florida Virtual School systems in the next 15 to 20 days.

According to FLVS, that would add to the 2,000 professional educators across the state who make up the online school’s staff.

Along with the increase in trained teachers, the student capacity of Florida Virtual School could increase from its current capacity of 40,000 to 400,000.

Florida Virtual School is adding 15 servers to handle increased use of the education technology.

At a press conference Monday, Corcoran said that while he doesn’t think it’s likely that the precautions will be necessary, coordination with the state’s 67 superintendents is key to being prepared.

“We don’t think that is going to be necessary and I think we are doing a great job with our superintendents and creating that containment if a child is sick.”

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