{"id":123924,"date":"2025-08-14T14:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/2025\/08\/14\/for-incarcerated-students-online-school-is-a-disaster-jacksonville-today\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:57:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:57:44","slug":"for-incarcerated-students-online-school-is-a-disaster-jacksonville-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/2025\/08\/14\/for-incarcerated-students-online-school-is-a-disaster-jacksonville-today\/","title":{"rendered":"For incarcerated students, online school is a disaster | Jacksonville Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8864793242727901\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>To earn his freedom, 15-year-old Cayden Gillespie had to complete three school assignments a day. But school had gone\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/online-school-covid-learning-loss-7c162ec1b4ce4d5219d5210aaac8f1ae\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">virtual<\/a>\u00a0for Cayden and other incarcerated young people in Florida. And sometimes, he didn\u2019t understand it.<\/p>\n<p>One day last summer, he kept failing an online pre-algebra test. There were too many words to read. He didn\u2019t know how to find the value of x. And there were no\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/math-teacher-kindergarten-preschool-3f870e01de689522a52d7f89c23509de\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">math teachers<\/a>\u00a0to show him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t figure it out, and it kept failing me,\u201d Cayden says. He asked the adult supervising the classroom for help. \u201cShe didn\u2019t understand either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- This site is converting visitors into subscribers and customers with OptinMonster - https:\/\/api.omwpapi.com :: Campaign Title: ACTIVE after 8.13, 2025 Email Registration Wall Message --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/ OptinMonster --><\/p>\n<p>Frustrated, Cayden picked up his metal desk and threw it against the wall. A security guard radioed the office for help.<\/p>\n<p>Cayden worried what might happen next.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A respected online school \u2014 a rocky rollout<\/h3>\n<p>No matter the offense, states must educate students in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/juvenile-corrections\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">juvenile detention<\/a>. It\u2019s a complicated challenge, no doubt \u2014 and success stories are scarce.<\/p>\n<p>Struggling to educate its more than 1,000 students in long-term confinement, Florida embarked last year on a risky experiment. Despite strong evidence that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/health-education-covid-46cb725e08110f8ad3c1b303ec9eefad\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">online learning<\/a>\u00a0failed many students during the pandemic, Florida juvenile justice leaders adopted the approach for 10- to 21-year-olds sentenced to residential commitment centers for offenses including theft, assault and drug abuse.<\/p>\n<p>The Florida Virtual School is one of the nation\u2019s largest and oldest online school systems. Adopting it in Florida\u2019s residential commitment facilities would bring more rigorous, uniform standards and tailored classes, officials argued. And students could continue in the online school, the theory went, once they left detention, since incarcerated youth often struggle to reintegrate into their local public schools.<\/p>\n<p>But students, parents, staff and outside providers say the online learning has been disastrous, especially since students on average spend\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.djj.state.fl.us\/content\/download\/1298830\/file\/%282023-24%20CAR%29%20Residential%20-%20Final.pdf?version=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">seven to 11 months in residential commitment<\/a>. Not only are students struggling to learn online, their frustration with virtual school is sometimes leading them to get into more trouble \u2014 and thus extending their stay.<\/p>\n<p>In embracing Florida Virtual School, the residential commitment centers stopped providing in-person teachers for each subject, relying instead on online faculty. The adults left to supervise classrooms rarely can answer questions or offer assistance, students say.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration of an excerpt from incarcerated students\u2019 letters, written to Florida lawmakers and obtained by The Associated Press. | AP illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A dozen letters from incarcerated students, written to lawmakers and obtained by The Associated Press, describe online schoolwork that\u2019s hard to access or understand \u2014 with little support from in-person or online staff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDear Law maker, I really be trying to do my work so I won\u2019t be getting in trouble but I don\u2019t be understanding the work,\u201d wrote one student. \u201cThey don\u2019t really hands on help me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Cayden arrived at the Orlando Youth Academy in January 2024, after four months in juvenile detention waiting for a bed in long-term confinement, he felt disoriented. He and his family had been told he would be placed at a residential center near their Gainesville home so they could visit on the weekends. The judge had recommended 30 days in the residential center \u2014 called \u201ctreatment\u201d \u2014 after Cayden pleaded guilty to two fraud felonies for using stolen credit cards, including one belonging to his parents.<\/p>\n<p>As he sat in a metal chair at his new case manager\u2019s desk, she described the routine and expectations of what she called \u201cthe program.\u201d He\u2019d attend more than six hours of school a day and therapy five days a week, including with his parents over Zoom. None of this surprised Cayden.<\/p>\n<p>But then she says something that got his attention. \u201cThe program\u201d would likely last six to nine months.<\/p>\n<p>Panicked, he asked to call his mother.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A monthslong stay in \u2018a teenage jail\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Robyn Gillespie stepped outside the Gainesville McDonald\u2019s she managed when she saw a call from the Department of Juvenile Justice. That can\u2019t be true, she said, when Cayden told her his sentence was far longer than expected.<\/p>\n<p>So Cayden, still sitting next to his case manager, put down the phone and asked her again: Ma\u2019am, you said six to nine months, right?<\/p>\n<p>Gillespie hung up and cried. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t understand him,\u201d she remembers thinking.<\/p>\n<p>Gillespie\u2019s husband, Kenny Roach, initially thought going to juvenile detention could help Cayden, who had grown out of control. The family had recently moved to Florida to care for aging relatives, but Cayden\u2019s beloved older brother decided to return to Virginia, where they\u2019d lived before.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-dominant-color=\"907458\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #907458;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-99762 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-2048x1370.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-359x240.jpg 359w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Cayden-and-mom-1650x1104.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Robyn Gillespie listens to her son Cayden as he recalls his educational experience while in juvenile detention, April 26, 2025, in Gainesville. | Marta Lavandier, AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cayden, who has autism, struggled being in a new place without his brother. He began leaving the house in the evening with neighborhood teens when the parents worked late. That led to shoplifting and, eventually, credit card fraud. Roach and Gillespie pressed charges against their son.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe really needs to get a week in a detention home,\u201d Roach thought. As a youth, he himself had gone to juvenile detention twice, for as long as two weeks, and credited it for a life turnaround. \u201cI thought it would be a learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When he learned Cayden\u2019s time in the juvenile detention system would last much longer, he was in shock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood lord, what do they hope to accomplish? A kid his age, with his diagnosis?\u201d Roach remembers thinking. \u201cThat\u2019s like being in a teenage jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Life in custody: Not much privacy, avoiding a \u2018level freeze\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Cayden and the other detainees inside Orlando Youth Academy woke up every day at 6 a.m. and cleaned their cells. Only when they passed inspection could they enter the common area.<\/p>\n<p>Each detained youth had a toilet in their cell. For privacy, they were encouraged to lodge notebook paper into the door jamb to cover the narrow vertical window in their doors.<\/p>\n<p>Phone calls with their parents were monitored. At family visits, Cayden\u2019s parents couldn\u2019t get too close or hug him more than once at the beginning and end, to prevent visitors from sharing contraband with the teens.<\/p>\n<p>To relax, Cayden would lie on his stomach on his plastic-covered mattress and draw and write. He developed a Pokemon-inspired story about a hero named One \u2014 the only time he allowed his mind to wander away from Orlando Youth Academy.<\/p>\n<p>When the teens got into trouble, they had to go to bed early \u2014 5:30 p.m. \u2014 and skip playing cards or watching TV, some of the only downtime they got. But the real punishment was called a \u201clevel freeze.\u201d When a detainee got into trouble for fighting, damaging property, not attending therapy or refusing to log into online school, they stopped making progress toward release.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Online school lacked special education supports<\/h3>\n<p>Before Orlando Youth Academy and Florida\u2019s other commitment centers adopted virtual learning in July 2024, Cayden\u2019s main source of stress was the other students. They antagonized Cayden until he exploded. Therapists and staff coached him to avoid these situations.<\/p>\n<p>School wasn\u2019t a source of stress or conflict. Four teachers from the local schools came to their portable classroom and lectured students ages 12 to 18 from the front of the room.<\/p>\n<p>Cayden came to the program midway through what should have been his seventh grade year. But after assessing him, the teachers placed Cayden in sixth grade.<\/p>\n<p>When the state adopted virtual schooling, it was partly trying to meet the needs of students across different ages and abilities. But Cayden felt some of the new classes were too advanced, and he didn\u2019t receive help he needed to do the work.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-dominant-color=\"545a5f\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #545a5f;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-99764 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Miami-Youth-Academy-1650x1100.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Miami Youth Academy, a residential facility for male juveniles, is seen in this photo  June 6, 2025, in Kendall. | Marta Lavandier, AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The complaints from other Florida detainees are similar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy zoom teachers they never email me back or try to help me with my work. It\u2019s like they think we\u2019re normal kids,\u201d one youth wrote in a letter to Florida lawmakers. \u201cHalf of us don\u2019t even know what we\u2019re looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Cayden\u2019s special education plan, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/education-department-iep-disability-civil-rights-trump-85a6687d9ef1f5236f2637924d66a560\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">federal law<\/a>\u00a0requires detention center schools to follow, he\u2019s entitled to receive assistance reading long texts. But he didn\u2019t receive it after the virtual school started.<\/p>\n<p>Florida Virtual School wouldn\u2019t comment on Cayden\u2019s case, citing privacy concerns. Within their school for students in long-term confinement, \u201cevery student with a disability receives specially designed instruction, support, and accommodations comparable to those listed in the student\u2019s Individualized Education Plan (IEP),\u201d says Robin Winder, chief academic officer of Florida Virtual School.<\/p>\n<p>The instructor assigned to help Cayden and more than a dozen other students with their online work was overwhelmed by the students\u2019 needs, Cayden says. Three different people held that job during the nine months he attended virtual school inside Orlando Youth Academy.<\/p>\n<p>When Cayden threw the desk out of frustration with the new online learning program, he received a \u201clevel freeze\u201d of three to five days, essentially extending his time at the residential commitment center.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">It\u2019s easy to tumble into \u2018dead time\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press, plus interviews with parents, staff and outside specialists, show staff have recommended or given level freezes when students have broken laptops, refused to log into Zoom and even sent an email to ask for help initiating an online class. And when students don\u2019t participate in virtual school, the department\u2019s written protocol calls for taking away points they earn toward getting out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents who have their heads down will be prompted by the teacher no more than two times to sit up and participate,\u201d reads the Classroom Behavior Management Plan for Florida\u2019s juvenile justice schools.<\/p>\n<p>The first time Xavier Nicoll, 15, broke a laptop at his residential commitment center in Miami, it was because an online teacher wouldn\u2019t respond to his questions, according to his grandmother Julie, who has raised him. He was arrested and sent to a different detention center to face charges. The three weeks he spent there didn\u2019t count toward his overall sentence because he can\u2019t receive \u201ctreatment\u201d there. Detainees call it \u201cdead time.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-dominant-color=\"4e463d\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #4e463d;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-99763 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Nicoll-photo-1650x1100.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Julie Nicoll shows an undated photo with her grandson Xavier on April 24, 2025, in Naples. Julie and her husband have spent more than $20,000 in legal fees trying to get him released from a youth detention center. | Marta Lavandier, AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Once back at the residential center, he broke another laptop, his grandmother says, because a teen dared him to. Back he went to county detention and court for more dead time. Then, in January, when the in-person class supervisor wouldn\u2019t help him get into a locked online assignment, he broke a third, says Julie Nicoll.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier was initially meant to be held for six to nine months after breaking into a vape store. He\u2019s now on track to be confined at least 28 months.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s grown at least 5 inches in detention \u2014 and gone through puberty. Yet in school, Nicoll said in April, he was making no progress. \u201cHe went in as an eighth grader and is still an eighth grader \u2014 and failing,\u201d Nicoll says.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier\u2019s March report card showed he was earning a 34% in Civics and Career Planning, 12% in Pre-Algebra, 13% in Comprehensive Science and 58% in Language Arts.<\/p>\n<p>Nicoll has complained that her grandson, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, hasn\u2019t been receiving special education services. The Department of Juvenile Justice and Florida Virtual School have canceled multiple meetings to discuss his education plan because Xavier keeps getting arrested and sent for dead time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s trapped,\u201d says Nicoll. \u201cNo matter what we do, we can\u2019t seem to get him out.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trouble rejoining the community?<\/h3>\n<p>Nicoll and her husband have spent more than $20,000 in legal fees trying to win his release. They argue untreated brain inflammation due to mold exposure in detention, plus his disability, make it impossible for him to control his frustration during online school.<\/p>\n<p>In May, Xavier was arrested a fourth time. After turning in an assignment, he realized he\u2019d made a mistake and asked the in-class supervisor to return it. The supervisor wouldn\u2019t give back his work, and he broke another laptop.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier pleaded guilty in August to two felonies for breaking laptops. \u201cThey\u2019re setting him up to go into the community a failure,\u201d says Nicoll.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear how many students are getting into trouble or extending their time because of behavior during virtual school. Arrests inside residential centers increased slightly in the first nine months after the department adopted virtual school, compared with the same period during the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>An analysis of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.djj.state.fl.us\/research\/reports-and-data\/interactive-data-reports\/qi-data-reports\/residential-data-reports\/fy-2023-24-residential-data-reports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">publicly available data<\/a>\u00a0shows staff use of verbal and physical interventions has also risen slightly, to 2.4 physical or verbal interventions per 100 days from 1.8 interventions the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>The total number of youth in Florida\u2019s residential commitment centers increased to 1,388 in June,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.djj.state.fl.us\/services\/residential-services\/guidelines-tools\/archived-residential-resource-utilization-reports\/2024-archive#SlotSum\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the latest data reported by the state<\/a>, up 177 since July 2024, when the department adopted virtual instruction. That could indicate detainees are staying in confinement longer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrelation does not equal causation,\u201d responds Amanda Slama, a Department of Juvenile Justice spokeswoman. \u201cOther contributing factors could explain an increase in arrests if there is one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since December, the department has ignored or refused AP requests to visit juvenile confinement, speak to officials and release anonymized exit documents for students leaving commitment centers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-dominant-color=\"a75855\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a75855;\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-99760 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-Jalen-1650x1100.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">John Terry holds a photograph of his son Jalen Wilkinson on April 26, 2025, in Haines City. Jalen\u2019s academic experience changed when the detention center he was in switched to virtual learning. | Marta Lavandier, AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Not all students are getting into trouble during online schooling, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re learning. Jalen Wilkinson, 17, received punishment during detention for fighting, but his father was unaware of punishment related to school.<\/p>\n<p>But when school went online in July 2024, Jalen started complaining that there weren\u2019t enough adults to help students with the virtual program. School, he says, is basically free time.<\/p>\n<p>Jalen has been especially frustrated that he couldn\u2019t complete his GED while confined \u2014 even though Florida Virtual School leaders say they\u2019ve made it easier for detainees to take the exam.<\/p>\n<p>He was released in July. His father, John Terry, worries the time locked up was a waste and Jalen will struggle to reenter high school and graduate. \u201cThere\u2019s no rehabilitation whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cayden is still trying to restart school<\/h3>\n<p>In March, shackled with an ankle monitor, Cayden Gillespie finally left Orlando Youth Academy. The six to nine months his case manager predicted turned into 15. Between that and the \u201cdead time\u201d waiting for a residential center bed, he was detained 19 months.<\/p>\n<p>Through therapy at the residential center, Cayden learned how to recognize his anger building and to take a break. His parents say the family therapy helped them better understand Cayden\u2019s needs and helped them all communicate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the school part,\u201d Robyn Gillespie says, \u201cthat was a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gillespie, her husband and Cayden are still trying to understand the consequences of going so long without proper schooling. Initially, they thought he\u2019d go to the local public middle school, but the school said, at 15, he\u2019s too old.<\/p>\n<p>This spring, they tried to sign him up for Florida Virtual School, the same program he did in custody. Indeed, this was one of the arguments the state made for using virtual school inside confinement. But Robyn Gillespie says Florida Virtual told them he couldn\u2019t join so late in the year.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about Cayden\u2019s case, Florida Virtual said all students \u201creleased from a facility receive one-on-one support from an FLVS transition specialist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Cayden\u2019s family says they were never offered transition help or told how he could continue where he left off in detention.<\/p>\n<p>The best option, they\u2019ve been told by the local school district, is a charter school, where he can make up coursework quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of place where they dismiss you if you don\u2019t show up on time,\u201d says Robyn Gillespie. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no transportation. I\u2019m just not sure that\u2019s going to work well for our family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The terms of Cayden\u2019s probation require him to attend school or face confinement again. He starts at the charter school later this month. Says Gillespie: \u201cHe has to be in school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Associated Press receives support from the Public Welfare Foundation for reporting focused on criminal justice, and AP\u2019s education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/about\/news-values-and-principles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">standards<\/a>\u00a0for working with philanthropies, a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/about\/supporting-ap\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">list<\/a>\u00a0of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/08\/14\/for-incarcerated-students-online-school-has-been-a-disaster\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To earn his freedom, 15-year-old Cayden Gillespie had to complete three school assignments a day. But school had gone\u00a0virtual\u00a0for Cayden and other incarcerated young people in Florida. And sometimes, he&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123926,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123924\/revisions\/123926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvbrazilusa.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}