Only 20% of students expect to return

Despite push to reopen Broward schools, numbers show most consider staying home

Bro ward students maybe returning to near empty campuses Friday.

Despite a push to reopen buildings, parents of just 20% of students — 41,705 out of 210,000 — have indicated that their kids plan to return, according to district data, which does not include charter schools.

The numbers show that older students are most likely to stay home. About 26% of students in elementary, 19% in middle school and 12% in high school plan to return. Just 9% of high school seniors plan to come back.

Students at largely Black schools are also staying home more than those where many of the students are white.

School resumes Friday for grades pre-K to 2, with more students returning Tuesday and Oct. 15.

The minuscule numbers should make it easy for Broward schools to practice social distancing. District officials said that if fewer than 50% of students returned at each school, they’d have enough roomto spread out students on campus. Only one school exceeded that threshold, and just barely, with 52% of students at Floranada Elementary in Fort Lauderdale returning.

The data shows that parents at mostly white schools are more likely than those at schools that serve mostly minority children to send their children back to campus, a trend thatwas similar in Palm Beach County. Some experts say this may bedueto the disproportionate effect that COVID-19 has had on Black ad lower income families.

Four mostly Black elementary schools have the lowest percent of students returning: North Fork (8.4%) and Thurgood Marshall (8.5%), both in Fort Lauderdale, Charles Drew in Pompano Beach (9.4%) and Mary M. Bethune in Hollywood (9.8%).

At Broward Estates Elementary, a Fort Lauderdale school where almost all kids are Black or Hispanic, just 54 kids, or about 18%, are returning to campus.

“We are so worried about catching COVID,” said Brenda Kobrin, whose two children attend Broward Estates. “There is no reason for us to put ourselves in harms way. ... I don’t understand how some people are being so dismissive of this virus.”

Kobrin said she was also pleased with the remote instruction her children are receiving.

At Beachside Montesorri, a K-8 school in Hollywood that serves a largely white and more affluent population, 41% of students are returning, making it among the top 10 most popular schools for students to return.

Beachside parent Rod Velez donated an air purifier and 60 automatic sanitizer dispensers to the school.

“Both of my kids will be returning to school, brick andmortar. Fortunately my kids go to a great school,” Velez said. “I feel that itwill be 100% safe for my children. If something happens

that we do not like, we can always go back to e-learning fromhome.”

School district officials say parents can switch their child from in-person to athome learning at any time. But they’re asking parents whosechildren are learning from home to keep them there until the spring semester.

At Sawgrass Elementary in Sunrise, about 26% of parents are returning. But parent John MorenoEscobar said she’s not ready for his 5-year-old son to attend kindergarten in person.

“I think it is irresponsible exposing my son to being infected or to bringing the virus home,” MorenoEscobar said. “I’m alsoworried about the teachers that will be risking their lives. I have many family members that teach and work in Broward schools.”

High schools will be particularly sparse. Cypress Bay High has nearly 5,000 students and is normally the largest and one of the most crowded schools in Florida. But just 493 students have indicated they’re returning. Junior Andrew Grub will not be one of them.

“I don’t feel that adequate safeguards have been put in place to keep students and staff safe,” said Grub, 17, who frequently attends School Board meetings and district committees.

These safeguards, he said, including adequate personal protective equipment and clear procedures aboutwhat happens if a student or staff members test positive forCOVID-19.

At TaravellaHigh in Coral Springs, just 6.8% of students — 190 out of 2,797 — are slated to return, the least of any high school in the district.

Taravella parent Becky Brett said she left the choice up to her daughter Amelia, who is a senior.

“She loves being able to sleep in longer,” Brett said. “She has her coffee during her first class. She loves this.”

About 1,350 students had signed up to return to class but must continue learning at home for two to three moreweeks, due to renovations at their schools, according to a district memo. The memo says workwon’t be finished until Oct. 23 at Eagle Point Elementary in Weston, Gulfstream Academy inHallandale Beach and Walker Elementary in Fort Lauderdale.

Students at three other schools will have to wait until Oct. 30: Oakridge Elementary in Hollywood, Royal Palm Elementary in Lauderhill and Rickards Middle in Fort Lauderdale.