Miami-Dade’s going to Phase 2 could have school doors opening this month

Miami-Dade and Broward counties will enter into Phase 2 on Monday, the next step toward reopening schools for in-person learning.

Pointing to coronavirus data heading in the right direction, Gov. Ron DeSantis, along with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, made the announcement Friday at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami.

The improved coronavirus phase means schools could open for in-person learning this month, if those trends continue, Carvalho said. Miami-Dade, the epicenter of the state’s COVID cases, has been in the more restrictive Phase 1 since the pandemic began in the spring.

Carvalho added that the district’s eight criteria for reopening schools are currently being met. That criteria includes a sustained COVID-19 positivity rate of less than 10%, trending toward 5%, for 14 days, a steady reduction in the number of individuals hospitalized and an increase in viral-specific COVID-19 test availability with test results in less than 48 hours.

On Friday, Miami-Dade’s daily positivity rate was 4.86%, considerably lower than the double-digit positivity rates in the county in July and August. The county’s 14-day average based on Friday’s report from the Florida Department of Health was 6.09%.

Miami-Dade Schools previously announced that it would decide by Sept. 30 whether to open schools for in-person learning by Oct. 5. Carvalho said the county’s entering Phase 2 and continued data that show improvement could speed up that timeline.

He said the district will meet again with its group of medical experts on Thursday. That meeting is expected to be open to the public.

School district spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego said the district still plans to open first to students with special needs as part of a “limited and protected first wave.” Those details are still being finalized, she said.

About 51% of families said in a survey conducted by the school district in July that they preferred sending their children into school. The other half of the families may continue with online learning.

The district is still figuring out how many teachers will return to the classroom. Teachers will be expected to teach only in-person or online, Carvalho said, with the exception of a few cases, like Advanced Placement teachers.

DeSantis opened the press conference Friday with nothing but praise for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, calling it “the best urban larger school district in the country” and touted the district’s Advanced Placement test scores, particularly among Hispanic students.

Miami-Dade school officials have repeatedly said they had to make “several reassurances” to the state in order to keep schools closed and continue with online learning. DeSantis previously said that closed schools would be detrimental to kids, especially for students with special needs and English language learners.

Many parents and teachers of special education children left voicemails or sent in emails at Wednesday’s virtual Miami-Dade School board meeting to rail against the school district’s now gone online learning platform, My School Online. In a 2 a.m. Thursday unanimous vote, the school board cut ties with K12, the company that produced the platform.

Asked what he thought of the district’s disastrous debut of a school year, where teachers, students and parents were continually disconnected or booted from the platform due to K12 issues and cyberattacks, DeSantis waved off Miami-Dade’s start of school woes as “bumps in the road.”

“I know it was frustrating, but they’re working night and day to get it right,” he said.

State not releasing school-based COVID data

As schools across the state have reopened, the Florida Department of Health has provided school officials information about COVID-19 cases among students and staff at their schools for weeks, but state officials consider the data confidential.

“Schools, superintendents or school districts are advised that the department has provided confidential information only to them under the statute and rule,” DOH spokesman Alberto Moscoso said in an email Wednesday.

Many school districts have followed the state’s advice and have kept COVID-19 data secret. But some districts, including those in Pasco and Martin counties, have released the information to the public.

State officials briefly released a six-page draft report that showed nearly 900 students and staffers had tested positive during a two-week period in August as students across the state returned to the classroom.

The report was wiped from the department’s website a few hours later.

Moscoso said a state report is still expected to be released to the public in the near future.

“We are still working to determine the structure and release of the report containing information regarding cases of COVID-19 in schools and day care and will advise as soon as that has been finalized,” Moscoso said.

DeSantis, who has pushed for in-person learning, was defensive Friday when asked why the state has taken so long to release school-related COVID-19 data to the public.

Florida had also refused to release data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It was only after the Miami Herald drafted a suit seeking the data’s release — and other news media organizations joined as plaintiffs — that the state finally relented.

Regarding the schools, DeSantis pointed to a state report that breaks down COVID-19 data by age groups.

“Guess what? If you have the 17-to-24 category in Leon County or Alachua, and you see a lot of cases, then guess what? Those are university students at FSU or UF. If you see them in lower age groups than that, then you know that it is going to be in K-12,” DeSantis said at the press conference at the Frost Museum.

Miami Herald reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 2:22 PM.