Schools in the Archdiocese of Miami will stay online and not reopen this school year

All schools in the Archdiocese of Miami will not be reopening and will stay online for the rest of the school year.

In a letter sent Friday to families whose children attend archdiocesan schools in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, Superintendent Kim Pryzbylski said learning will remain online until the last day of school June 3.

“We have heard from parents, principals and teachers on the ‘new normal’ which requires all of us to plan, review and adjust,” she wrote. “As of today, April 17, students will continue with the virtual learning through June 3 to complete the 2019-2020 school year.”

A vast majority of Miami-Dade’s schools were in agreement to shutter schools after March 13. Archbishop Thomas Wenski announced the archdiocesan schools’ closure at the same press conference that announced Miami-Dade’s public and charter schools were to be closed.

The archdiocese’s decision now breaks from Florida’s public schools. The Florida Department of Education has recommended that the state’s public schools remain shuttered until May 1, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has flirted with the idea of opening schools back up this school year even for just two weeks.

Several superintendents, including those of Miami-Dade and Broward at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, have publicly doubted that schools will reopen this school year and deemed the move to be “imprudent.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 3:41 PM.