Each school within the Lee County School District is reaching out to families that have not yet made an instructional model selection for the upcoming school year.

While the vast majority have selected an educational option, 8,000 parents have not yet notified the district as to whether their child or children will take part in classes in-school or through a remote program.

“It was a fantastic response to get 77,000 students to make a selection,” District Spokesperson Rob Spicker said of the survey.

The level of involvement of families has been strong, based on the number of emails the district has received, Facebook messages and engagement on Facebook and YouTube, he said.

“Parents are tuned in and deliberated over the models and made a choice,” Spicker said.

He said the schools are reaching out to the remaining 8,000 students that did not respond to the instructional model survey to help them make a decision. For those families that are not reached by the end of the week, they will be automatically enrolled in face-to-face instruction.

The survey results from 77,012 students are as follows:

* 41 percent, or 31,522 students, face-to-face instruction

* 39 percent, or 29,702 students, Lee Home Connect instruction

* 19 percent, or 14,724 students, Lee Virtual School instruction

* 1 percent, or 1,064 students, Homeschool instruction

Spicker said the response from the parents did not waver too far from the initial survey that was sent in June. The June survey revealed that 51 percent wanted their children to go back to school, while 30 percent wanted a hybrid online model and 15 percent wanted online instruction.

“It falls in line with what we expected based on that survey,” Spicker said. “The only thing that is surprising was the amount of interest in Lee Virtual School.”

A typical year has several hundred students enrolled in Lee Virtual School. The number enrolled in Lee Virtual School still may change because students enrolled in this model are not being able to participate in the free meals program, he said. The schools and special centers of the district are involved in the free meals program. Although the district tried to get Lee Virtual School involved in the program, the USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture said they will not allow students enrolled in this model to receive free meals, either free, or paid, Spicker said.

Because this information became available after the close of the selection process survey, the district asked parents who selected the Lee Virtual School to participate in a secondary questionnaire to let them know the breakfast and lunch program is not available.

The breakfast and lunch program is available for students enrolled in Lee Home Connect. He said they expect that some families might elect to leave Lee Virtual School and enroll in Lee Home Connect to participate in the program.

The logistics of how those students enrolled in Lee Home Connect will receive breakfast and lunch is still being figured out. Once the logistics are confirmed, information will be sent to families.

Families have until the end of the week to change the instructional model they chose if they enrolled in Lee Virtual School, or face-to-face. Those families can change the model if they choose Lee Virtual School because it does not qualify for free breakfast or lunch, or face-to-face due to the district changing the format of checking students temperatures once they arrived at school. Last week the district, with guidance from health officials, decided to eliminate temperature checks once students arrive on the school campuses at the beginning of the day.

If families have questions, or are thinking of switching models, they should call their school, Spicker said.

“We encourage families to make decisions this week and get their choice firmed up with the school. Only the principal can approve the change,” he said.

Once the results came in, schools began working on master schedules to determine how many teachers will be needed for face-to-face, Lee Home Connect and Lee Virtual School due to the increase in demand.

Spicker said bargaining is still under way with the teacher unions as to how to decide which teachers teach which models. Teachers will report to work on Aug. 18 and they will know of their assignment before, or on that day.

“They have nine working days to prepare,” Spicker said, before school starts.

The district will provide instruction on Lee Home Connect, and for teachers that move to Lee Virtual School because it is a different task from teaching in the classroom.

The majority of schools are already setting up the classrooms, social distancing the desks and making sure they have the right amount of desks.

Within the next seven to 10 days, families also will be notified of their child’s open house, which will primarily be held virtually this year. The only exception is for incoming kindergarten students, who will have a face-to-face open house with staggered times to eliminate large crowds gathering in the classroom.

Most open houses typically take place the last week before school opens, between Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, but they may start as early as Aug. 19 this year, Spicker said.

Spicker asks that parents keep up to date, as things might continue to change. He said things remain a fluid situation and may still change with how things play out with the beginning of this school year.

Parents can find additional information on the district’s website, www.leeschools.net, under the Reopening Toolkit.