Not all governments are equal. School Boards are local governments too, unfortunately the various school boards do not appear to carry the same weight in Tallahassee in regards to safety concerns as due the united Municipal and County governments.
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has been scaling back on the COVID-19 emergency orders; working to bring an end to the fully remote virtual meetings by government. I was advised much earlier this week to expect the the October 5, Village Council Meeting of Palmetto Bay to be live, but modified.
In anticipation, the council chambers were to be modified. Council Members and staff were to be shielded from each other and the public, nearly enveloped in Plexiglas type barriers [or is it the public who will be shielded (protected) from the Council Members and Staff?] There will be shielding for the public speakers. Everyone who intends to enter will be screened, including having their temperatures taken. There are many more protocols to be employed, but you get the point.
However, the municipalities and Counties pushed back against the October 1 live reboot, successfully. There was a last minute reprieve and local governments now appear to have an additional month, through October. So for some governments it remains virtual and wait and see through October.
Not all governments were included in this reprieve. The Schools are working to restart this month after emergency meeting held Tuesday, It was reported in the Miami Herald that the Miami-Dade County School Members, caved to an early staged October return to the brick and motor schools, but it was “… under what they believed was a veiled threat — not from coronavirus fears, but from Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.” See the Miami Herald, opinion of Editorial Board, Sept. 30, 2020, Miami-Dade School Board stands tall in face of thuggish threat from the state.
In a stern letter, Corcoran instructed the nation’s fourth-largest district to reopen its school doors by Monday, Oct. 5 or be prepared to justify exemptions on a school-by-school basis by Friday — oh, and also face the possibility of having state funding withheld. What appalling thuggery.
The School Board was left to fend for itself, not part of a broad based coalition along with other governments. In response, I was provided an open letter from a Palmetto Bay resident, a spouse of a teacher, who stated the concerns:
An open letter to Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Superintendent Carvalho
Dear Superintendent Carvalho,
As the spouse of a Miami-Dade County Public Schools teacher,
I am imploring, no, I am begging you to consider the fact that you are being
bullied into reopening schools.
I have heard for over a decade about how you treat people
who work for MDCPS. You have always been extremely fair, and fight for what is
right for MDCPS. In this particular instance, I think that you need to bring
your A game to the table and tell Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran
to stop playing politics, and even worse, playing with the lives of teachers,
administrators, and staff.
What are the families of all of MDCPS teachers and staff
supposed to do? Personally, I have been quarantined since March. I follow every
safety protocol. Now, with the issuance of a threat, you're playing with the
lives of everyone at MDCPS. When my spouse comes home from work infected by
either another staff member or student, the virus will spread to me. This holds
true for every single person that goes to work in the classroom and their
families.
Do you honestly believe that young children in Pre-K through
4th grade are going to keep their mask on all day? Do you think these kids are
going to wear a proper mask without vents? Do you think these kids will be able
to keep their fingers off their mask? By giving into pressure, you are allowing
small Petri dishes with arms and legs into the classroom to infect everyone
around them. How long do you think it will take before schools will close
again?
Superintendent Carvalho, you are better than this. You are a
better person than Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. Please
don't bow down to his threat. Tell Mr. Corcoran that lives are more important
than his money and that you have too much honor to fold.
Think about your teachers. Think about the families of your
teachers. Just think.
Sincerely,
The Spouse of a Teacher
One rule for all local governments? Hardly. Protecting home rule? Only for some (governments).
My opinion: It would have been appropriate for all governments to stand together as it rings hollow that local governments feel a risk from holding their limited meetings, a gather of 2 - 5 hours a meeting, yet our teachers are not considered for inclusion in the extension. Schools face far more exposure on a daily basis than these meetings. They are communities in and of themselves. Those at schools face exposure from 5.5 to 7 hours PER DAY, five days per week. The teachers, administrators and staff are at much greater risk - as are their families.
There is an October 5, 2020, Village Council meeting. It would be appropriate for Palmetto Bay to stand behind our schools, our teachers and students and demand that we not force our schools to do on a daily basis what our local governments refuse do do for scant hours in a month - and at a much lesser density.
That's just my opinion. I believe it to be appropriate.
Eugene Flinn
#mdcpsreopening
