While Florida’s K-12 public schools are closed for the rest of the school year due to the coronavirus pandemic, 44 percent of the state’s early learning centers continue to remain open.

But Eric Hall, the Chancellor for Innovation with the Florida Department of Education, says he’s concerned about what that layoff will due to the majority of voluntary prekindergarten education and readiness programs who aren’t instructing three and four-year old children right now.

“We’ve got to continue to look at how we support their readiness to resume operations. So how do we work with them during this time to continue teacher training and support to build that capacity?” Hall asked during a meeting of Governor Ron DeSantis’ task force on Administrative, Education, Information & Technology, Manufacturing, Mining, Utilities and Wholesale that took place Thursday morning via conference call.

“Because if we’re going to address the achievement gap when kids are entering kindergarten, what we need to do first and foremost to ensure that we have a workforce that is continuing to be upskilled and trained during this time, and knowing that, in some cases, we might have businesses looking a little bit differently going in with centers we have because of the additional steps that we’re taking with safety and health," Hill said.

DeSantis opted not last month not to close daycare and early learning centers around the state, saying that it would cause unnecessary stress on parents who were already having to contend with finding childcare for their kids no longer taking classes. 

Evelio Torres, the president and CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Miami Dade and Monroe counties, said that of the 1,343 early learning centers in Miami, 85 percent of them are currently closed. 

Torres also expressed anxiety about programs for infant and toddler and children with special needs, which he says is traditionally more expensive because of the need for a lower teacher-per-pupil ratio. 

“There are concerns that in order to reduce the mounting losses to these early learning programs, they may be less likely to offer infant and toddler care when they reopen,” he said, adding that the Dept. of Education should perhaps tap some of the funds earmarked from the recently passed CARES economic recovery bill to pay for those programs.