Florida governor Ron DeSantis is pushing for in-person school attendance when classes reopen in August, but educator groups want to carry on with online classes only. This is in light of Florida’s worsening health crisis, especially now after test results of 16, 797 Florida kids aged 18 and below revealed they were infection positive.

The pediatric COVID-19 cases represented 31% of the 54,022 Florida children who underwent testing. Although only 1% of the pediatric cases have been hospitalized, which resulted to four (4) deaths, the main concern is that children can also be transmitters of the disease even if they do not show any signs or symptoms.

Educators are Against Holding of In-Person Classes Upon School Reopening

Alberto Carvalho , Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools considers DeSantis’ call for in-person school reopening as somewhat fair and balanced. Mr. Carvalho was making reference to DeSantis’ tweet, which he said respects local decision-making, which will be based on actual conditions at the time of school reopening.

However, Karen Resciniti, president of the Martin County Education Asso. disagrees. She said making decisions for school reopening based on current conditions could spell catastrophe. Many educators in Florida counties are hesitant to return to in-person teaching in classrooms.

Florida county teachers’ unions are also against the holding of in-person classes as there are still no signs that cases of infections in Florida is on a downward trend. In contrast, Florida now is a leading hotspot as the number of active cases continue to grow at a rapid rate.

Debra Robinson, a county School Board member, who is also a retired physician said that a majority of school board members are likewise not comfortable with the idea of reopening classrooms.

Even if Governor DeSantis is all for school reopening, he acknowledges that the final decisions on how schools will resume, will come from county school boards.