Software Problems Disrupt First Day of Online Learning in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, pictured here in March, said on Monday that the "community deserves better" after software problems stymied the first day of online school.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, pictured here in March, said on Monday that the "community deserves better" after software problems stymied the first day of online school. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | Wisconsin governor wary of Trump visit … New Jersey to reopen some indoor dining … Virginia county’s plan to use libraries as daycare facilities sparks controversy … Alabama mayor asks Mardi Gras organizers to consider parade alternatives.

A software failure disrupted the first day of remote learning during the 2020-21 school year for thousands of students and teachers in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system—the fourth-largest school district in the country. School districts around the nation are turning to online classes as part of the national effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “I’m really disappointed,” said Gennylia Dalien, a high school junior. “I usually look forward to the start of school, but right now I’m just frustrated.” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho described the way the school day had unfolded as “one of the greatest disappointments” and said, “our community deserves better.” The software problem disabled access to the district’s website, portal, email servers, grade book and attendance tracker. Officials described it as an issue with a “switch” operated by Cisco Systems. As of Monday evening, the company hadn’t provided a timeline for when the issue would be resolved. Some teachers did find workarounds to the technology problems on Monday and some teaching did take place. Carvalho said schools may open their doors by mid-September for students whose parents would rather they attend in-person classes. But he said online learning would continue to be an option for others. [Miami Herald, WPLG Local10.com]

KENOSHA | President Trump on Monday said that he would visit Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday to thank law enforcement and the National Guard for their work quelling protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in the city. Trump will be arriving after Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, sent the president a letter urging him to reconsider the visit. “I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” Evers wrote. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, during remarks on CNN on Sunday, addressed the possibility of Trump visiting. “I don’t know how, given any of the previous statements that the president made, that he intends to come here to be helpful and we absolutely don’t need that right now,” Barnes, who is also a Democrat, said. [Politico, Associated Press]

INDOOR DINING | New Jersey may allow indoor dining as early as this week. This would be the first time patrons can sit down to eat inside at a restaurant since the state shut down indoor dining in March. Restaurants will be limited to 25% capacity. “Reopening responsibly will help us restore one of our state’s key industries while continuing to make progress against COVID-19,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. [Reuters]

LIBRARIES | Loudoun County, Virginia decided to use two of the county’s libraries as day care facilities for county employees during the pandemic, sparking pushback from the library’s Board of Trustees, who said that the decision deprives 6,000 library customers per week of the facilities’ services. “The Library Board of Trustees and Library Administration were not informed or consulted during the development of the proposal. If we had been consulted, we would have been able to make sure that the plan’s negative impact to services available to our library users was mitigated to the greatest extent possible,” said Denis Cotter, chairman of the board. [WTOP]

PARADE ALTERNATIVES | Mobile, Alabama Mayor Sandy Stimpson is asking Mardi Gras organizers to consider alternative celebrations should the pandemic drag on into February. “For now, I ask that you think about creative outdoor alternatives to a traditional parade and large, dense crowd format,” he said. [AL.com

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.