Some COVID quarantine protocols are loosening at Miami-Dade Schools. What about masks?
Looser COVID-19 quarantine protocols are coming Monday for middle school students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, with more relaxed protocols expected for elementary and K-8 schools in the coming weeks.
Starting Monday, students in middle school (excluding K-8 centers) who are exposed to COVID-19 and are asymptomatic will no longer have to quarantine for 10 days. Instead, their quarantine can be cut short if they test negative with a PCR test administered on or after the fifth day of contact with the infected person.
“We know that the best place for children to learn is in school, physically in school. We know the deleterious impacts associated with virtual learning particularly for fragile populations of students in poverty, English language learners, and students with disabilities,” Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Wednesday. “That is why the quarantining of students and the protocols and policies that we adopted were rigorous by taking into account the need for students to be in school.”
He added: “And we are very optimistic that sometime next week, as we continue to observe and analyze the data trends, we will be able to make” a similar announcement for elementary schools and K-8 centers.
The looser protocols are identical to what the district issued for high school students several weeks ago. Under the new rules, students who have symptoms or test positive will still have to quarantine.
Carvalho said the district made the decision, in consultation with its medical task force, after reviewing key data, including the number of new positive cases in schools and in the county, how many people are hospitalized, and the county’s percent positivity.
He also said that if the number of cases in Miami-Dade per 100,000 residents were to fall under 100 for two consecutive weeks, trending below 100 towards 50, the district would ask its medical task force about the possibility of relaxing additional COVID protocols.
And if all of the district’s metric criteria, which also include hospitalizations and percent positivity, are met, the district would ask the task force to discuss the possibility of changing its mask mandate to one with a parent opt-out.
Carvalho made the announcement during a news conference at the district’s headquarters in Miami, a day before the district is to meet with the Florida Board of Education to discuss whether it is complying with recently updated state rules on mask mandates and quarantines.
Florida recently issued new rules reinforcing its order that school districts let parents decide on whether their child should wear a mask in school or not. The rules also give parents the power to decide if their child should quarantine or go to school after COVID exposure, as long as the student remains asymptomatic.
So far, the public school districts in Palm Beach and Monroe counties have changed their quarantine protocols to comply with the new rules. The School Board of Broward County on Tuesday voted 8-1 to keep its mask mandate and current quarantine protocols in place for now. Both Broward Schools and Miami-Dade’s quarantine protocols are stricter than what the state is ordering.
Under the policies of Miami-Dade and Broward public school districts, only fully vaccinated students don’t have to quarantine after exposure if they remain asymptomatic. Each school district requires asymptomatic students who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated to quarantine for a certain number of days.
When asked about the state’s rules, Carvalho reiterated that the district’s COVID protocols have been data-driven and based on science, with the flexibility to review and change the protocols as the county’s COVID situation has changed.
“I am confident that even though by tomorrow, we will not meet the state’s requirements as defined ... we believe we are meeting and fulfilling our constitutional responsibility of providing a safe, secure environment as long as there’s a compelling public interest to do so,” Carvalho said.
At least 14 employees have died from COVID-19, “in addition to a handful of lives lost as far as students are concerned,” he said.
“I know some individuals diminish that. They say in a system of over 330,000 students, a handful of students is a very small percentage,” Carvalho said. “To that parent, to that father, to that mother, to that husband, wife, it’s a 100% loss. And I continue to not be able to define what our community’s threshold for pain should be. So one life lost is one life too many.“
Miami-Dade asks Florida to give it federal funds
Another major announcement was also made Wednesday: Carvalho sent Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran a letter requesting that the state apply for the federal funds that are meant to help schools across the state meet the needs of their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Florida is the only state in the U.S. that has not applied for the third round of funding from the $7 billion allocation that is meant to help schools meet the needs of its families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two-thirds of that funding was allocated in March but if Florida doesn’t submit a plan showing how it intends to use the federal relief aid, it could leave $2.3 billion on the table.
Even though the window to apply for the funds has already closed, federal officials assured the district that the state could still apply for the money, Carvalho said.
If Florida were to request and receive the funds made available through the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan stimulus legislation, Miami-Dade Schools’ allocation would be $1.052 billion, inclusive of charter schools, according to the letter.
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 6:28 PM.
