When can a teacher who had COVID-19 return to work?

Have a question about South Florida schools and COVID-19? Sun Sentinel reporter Lois Solomon will find the answer. Submit your question at SunSentinel.com/ AskLois.

“We have a teacher at our school who was out with the flu and COVID-19 for some time. This teacher explained that although they feel out of the woods, they keep getting positives on the follow-up test results. The teacher said that they contacted the school district’s Risk Management department and was told that if they could get a doctor to write a letter saying that they were cleared to come back to school, even though they keep getting positive results, then they’re allowed to return to their assignment in the brick-and-mortar classroom. Please find out if this is the district’s policy.” — A Broward teacher

It’s hard to imagine someone with positive results being allowed to return to the workplace. But not only is this the school district’s policy, it’s the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On the CDC web page, “Discontinuation of Isolation for Persons with COVID19 Not in Healthcare Settings,” the CDC says testing is in most cases not the way to determine whether to allow an employee back. Officials want the employee to quarantine for 10 days after symptom onset, be free of fever for 24 hours without medication, and have reduced coughing and breathing symptoms. Having isolated for 10 days with most symptoms gone, the employee is unlikely to be contagious, according to the agency.

This was a surprise to Anna Fusco, Broward’s teachers union president, who said she was familiar with the situation at this school.

“I’m kind of floored,” she said. “I don’t know how this is OK. You’re considered asymptomatic and can go back to work.”

Will vaccine be required for students?

“As I read about the new COVID vaccines, I don’t see any talk about kids. I can’t help but wonder if the vaccine will be required for attendance at school next year. Can you find out what’s happening with that?” — Monica, Miramar

In the coming months, COVID-19 vaccines are not going to be required of anyone, Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week.

“That is going to be the choice of each and every Floridian,” he said.

Things change so quickly now that I suppose DeSantis could change his mind on this if the vaccine proves itself safe and beneficial to children. The drug-maker Pfizer began testing kids older than 12 in October, and Moderna is set to soon begin testing the shots on kids who are 12 to 17. So it doesn’t look like the younger kids, in preschool and elementary school, are going to have access to a vaccine any time soon anyway.

Are masks optional for teachers?

“If Florida is one of 13 states in our country without a mask mandate, can teachers be forced to wear masks or are they optional? I’m sure there are teachers out there that feel that masks are not necessary. I actually am surprised that it hasn’t been challenged yet, because wearing a mask while teaching is literally suffocating and dizzying. I wouldn’t go without one but it is hard.” — Teacher, Boca Raton

Since our COVID-19 crisis began, I’ve wondered how workers who have to deal with the public all day wear their masks for hours upon hours. As we can see from the question, it’s tough on teachers, too.

But even though there’s no statewide mask mandate, teachers have to follow the rules of their school districts and counties, said Jacqueline Bain, an attorney in Delray Beach who specializes in health care law.

“Although the state of Florida does not have a mask mandate, each county has the authority to issue one,” she said. “As of today, in Palm Beach County, a mandate to wear facial coverings remains in effect. Additionally, in its 2020-2021 reopening plan, the School District of Palm Beach County included the use of masks, face shields, and other PPE for brick-and-mortar school attendance.”

There’s punishment for teachers who don’t follow these rules. A school board policy approved in June says not wearing a mask and other COVID-19 rule violations “will be treated as insubordination and may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”

So find a breathable mask or two for the next few months. We may be able to take them off in the next school year if vaccines

are able to eliminate this scourge.

Are teachers essential workers?

“I am a teacher and I believe we should be among the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Aren’t we essential workers? We are potentially exposed to the virus every day in our classrooms. Who is deciding who will get the vaccine first, and are teachers being considered?” — A Palm Beach County teacher

According to the federal government, teachers are essential workers. Over the summer, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency placed teachers in the same category as doctors, firefighters, police officers and grocery store workers, declaring them all “critical infrastructure workers.” Still, the memorandum made it clear the department was not issuing a mandate, just advice.

As we hear more and more about who will get the new vaccines, I don’t hear any mention of teachers. In a video released last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said residents of long-term care facilities would be the top priority, followed by at-risk health care workers and people older than 65 and those with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk.

This differs from what a Palm Beach County emergency management official told the county’s mayors last week. She said hospital and long-term care workers will get the first shots. She said first responders, which include police officers and firefighters, would be next in line.

So no matter who is making the vaccine priority list, it doesn’t include teachers, in the first round at least.