Fairfax County schools still having distance learning woes

Fairfax County Public Schools have experienced technical difficulties again after their second attempt at distance learning on Monday.

“This is frustrating and disappointing for everyone,” schools Superintendent Scott Braband said in a statement posted on the district’s website Monday night. “We recognize that our students and teachers need a reliable system for virtual learning; therefore, we are going to move away from Blackboard Learn 24-7 as a tool for face to face instruction.”

Last week, Mr. Braband postponed distance learning two days after its launch because students and staff experienced trouble logging onto remote learning app Blackboard.

Classes resumed Monday only to be confronted by the same technical difficulties.

County schools won’t be providing face-to-face instruction Tuesday and won’t resume “until our schools have communicated their plan for teacher-led instruction,” Mr. Braband wrote.

All 189,000 students in the county will have other opportunities for learning via Google Classroom, pre-recorded videos, learning packets, eBooks, other approved digital resources and educational programming on Channels 21, 25 and 99.