As Florida schools prepare for testing, at-home learners are a concern Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times Florida education officials have made it clear for months: They want students to come to schools to take annual spring tests, which start on Monday. “We need to measure,” commissioner Richard Corcoran said to reporters during an event Wednesday at Palm Harbor University High School. “Those measurements give us the diagnostic wisdom to go out there and wrap everything around that child and get him exactly what he needs to learn.” Concerns remain, though, that the children who have remained at home throughout the year because of health-safety issues might not feel comfortable returning to campuses for the assessments. Many parents have spoken of keeping their kids home for the tests, too.