South Florida schools say no changes — they are adhering to CDC reopening guidelines
The Miami-Dade and Broward public school systems said there is no need for them to update their protocols as a result of Friday’s detailed directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to reopen schools safely.
Students in South Florida have been back to class full time, either in person or online, since October, and districts have set in place rules like mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, frequent hand washing and uni-directional hallways for those attending physically.
“These are elements that have been part of our policy, and are now being recommended by the CDC,” Miami-Dade County Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Friday.
South Florida schools officials have maintained that the classroom has not been a source of community spread of the novel coronavirus, due in large part to protocols they have adhered to since the beginning of the academic year.
“The CDC guidelines support the protocols and measures the District has put in place, which is why Broward Schools have been found to be highly effective in containing the transmission of the coronavirus,” Broward County Public Schools said in an emailed statement.
That’s not to say the districts have been spared cases. Since October, 4,189 students and 1,785 employees in Miami-Dade County public schools have been confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19. In Broward, 1,542 students and 1,288 staff members have tested positive since the fall, according to the latest numbers provided by the district.
Both Carvalho and Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie also said that they are pushing the state to vaccinate all teachers, even though the CDC said Friday that should not be a prerequisite for reopening schools.
“This school board, this administration, proffered that as a priority. We have sent a letter to the Surgeon General of the state of Florida, as well as the governor of the state of Florida, affirming that our teachers are central professionals, front-line professionals, who must be prioritized in terms of access to vaccinations,” Carvalho said.
The guidelines put forth a step-by-step plan to get students back into classrooms, recognizing the academic, social and mental costs of keeping children out of school and away from their friends.
In the Florida Keys, students have been back in school since August, even longer than their neighbors to the north. Becky Herrin, spokeswoman for the Monroe County School District, said she is not completely familiar with the new CDC guidelines, but she doesn’t believe Keys schools will have to alter their COVID-prevention strategies in the wake of their release.
“We don’t anticipate having any major issues, but we will have to look at the guidelines to see if we have to make any changes,” Herrin said.
In-person attendance in South Florida schools varies by district. In Miami-Dade, about 47% of the district’s roughly 260,000 students are back at brick-and-mortar schools, Carvalho said. In Broward, which has almost 204,000 students, the in-person attendance rate is around 37%.
Herrin said all Keys students in kindergarten through sixth grade are back in class. Students in the rest of the grades are attending in-person on a staggered weekly schedule.
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
