“If we get to the point where people think we are on the other side of this and we can get kids back in, even if it’s for a couple of weeks, I think there would be value in that,” DeSantis said during a roundtable discussion featuring professionals in the Florida educational system, parents and government leaders, who joined the conversation through a video conferencing call. Classes in Florida schools typically end in the last week of May or the first week of June.

“We are going to look at the evidence and make a decision,” he said. “We have not made a decision yet. If it is safe, we want kids to be in school. I think most parents want that. So we will continue to look and see how this develops and make a decision there.”

The governor cited the fact that children have, for the most part, fared best during the pandemic, compared with other age groups. However, they can still carry the virus and spread it to others.

Florida currently has 17,531 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 60 percent of which are in three counties in southeast Florida, and 390 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard. The 2,360 hospitalizations have reportedly not overwhelmed the state’s health care system.

“It may be that not every county is going to be treated the same in this,” DeSantis said. “There is nothing wrong with that. If the problem is different in certain parts, we should recognize that. And if the problem has really abated in other parts, we should recognize that.”

DeSantis held the roundtable to get a conversation started on the topic of distance learning and the issues and challenges surrounding it. “Vice President Mike Pence recognized Florida as a leader in distance learning. We appreciate that…but there is always going to be different things coming up,” the governor said.

Michael Grego, the schools superintendent in Pinellas County, said parents who have had to become more involved in their children’s studies as part of the implementation of distance learning are “looking forward to the day that they can go back to a level of normalcy.”

“But I also want to work to build a level of trust when the students come back that they are coming back to a very safe environment,” Grego said. “During this period of time, we have deep-cleaned our schools, but one of the challenges that we have is to continue to enforce that when we go back.”