With trepidation and unresolved lawsuits as a backdrop, about a dozen mostly rural Florida public school districts and several college campuses began in-person classes for students Monday.

“I feel the buzz. People are excited,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday during a roundtable discussion at Winthrop College Prep Academy in Riverview, a Tampa-area charter school that opened Monday with face-to-face instruction. “They really want to be back.”