Hillsborough County’s summer school program to begin virtually; fee-based camps canceled through June

TAMPA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County School district unveiled its plans for summer school Wednesday, indicating the coming weeks will look a lot like what students experienced at the end of the year.

Superintendent Addison Davis said the summer school program will be entire virtual for June and potentially July.

Students are only eligible for the summer school program if they're at least a year behind in math or reading.

Davis said at-home schooling has been a challenge for families and teachers, who have had to learn to manage expectations and course-loads.

"We didn't have the recipe,” Davis said. “Originally, our teachers were doing a really nice job of what we asked to go and upload their information. And I think that as we evolved and we started to scale back in what we understood the children and families could handle, I think we had a better instructional framework of what we could extend and what our children actually could be able to do.”

Davis said, “There's a balance between accountability and flexibility, and one of the things we didn't want to do is penalize any of our students that may have existing barriers, whether it's technology barriers, whether it's support-at-home barriers, whether there's a need for interventions. And I think over the last couple of weeks, we've gotten better.”

Fee-based camps are also canceled through June.

Davis said no decisions have been made about the next school year. Administrators are looking into whether they'll continue e-learning, in-school learning or a combination of both. 

A decision is expected to be made during the summer.