Forson gives overview of St. Johns County Schools during Chamber event

Superintendent describes how district is meeting challenges

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In many ways, it is a new era for Florida schools – and nowhere is it more apparent than in St. Johns County, where district officials are working to address challenges in the aftermath of COVID-19, security following the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and elimination of the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA).

Tim Forson, superintendent of St. Johns County Schools, spoke about these and other issues Sept. 15 during the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce Ponte Vedra Beach Division’s Chamber at Noon event. The luncheon and presentation were held at the link, a new facility in Nocatee.

The coronavirus pandemic may have had more impact on the schools than any other issue in the last couple of years. It has affected the district’s ability to find qualified applicants for jobs, acquisition of supplies needed to construct new schools and classroom attendance.

“Last year, we never had more than 200 students (test) positive at any given time,” Forson said. But on a single day in the first week of this month, 846 students tested positive.

That resulted in a lot of absences – not only those who had contracted COVID, but also anyone who needed to be quarantined due to propinquity. However, the district has found that the need for such quarantining is reduced from 2020. In part this is due to older students receiving the vaccine, but also due to a shortening of the necessary quarantine period and a reduction of social distancing requirements.

Pine Island Academy, the new K-8 school in Nocatee, experienced a shortage of flooring materials due to COVID-impacted supply-line disruptions. As a result, incoming students and staff found some floors to be exposed concrete.

It has also been difficult to fill many positions, as there are more jobs than available workers.

This has impacted the transportation and food services departments, as well as instruction.

At the same time, enrollment is up 8% over last year. Currently, it stands at 43,293. Forson said enrollment rose this academic year equal to the student population of two entire schools.

Because the district has only one school planned to open next year, rising enrollment continues to be a concern.

Forson expressed optimism at the announcement on Sept. 14 by Gov. Ron DeSantis that Florida would be replacing the FSA with progress monitoring.

“We want the students to perform well,” Forson said, “but I think we lost instructional time faced with the depth and the magnitude of some of the standardized tests.”

Still, he expressed some concern for accountability in education.

“When we lose something that everybody sees as a measuring tool, we just have to be prepared to replace it with something else that gives us confidence with what we’re doing, that we’re doing the right thing,” he said.

St. Johns County students have performed well on the assessments. In 2019, the last year they were administered, district students finished first in the state for reading in grades three through 10, science in grades five and eight, math in grades six through eight and in end-of-course exams in algebra I, biology, civics, geometry and U.S. history.