Teachers join fight over schools order
Lawsuit says August reopening puts health at risk
Florida’s teachers sued the state on Monday, saying an order from the governor requiring the reopening of school buildings next month risks the health and safety of Florida’s families and school employees.
The lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, pitting teachers who believe reopening schools is unsafe against government officials and some parents who say children need to resume their educations five days a week in brick-and-mortar classrooms. The legal fight could shape the timetable of the openings.
A growing number of school districts across the country are concluding it wouldn’t be prudent to open classrooms in the coming weeks. South Florida’s school districts have already announced they likely won’t require students to classrooms to open the school year.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include teachers from Broward and Miami-Dade counties who have survived COVID-19 or are concerned about their health if they have to return to brick-andmortar classrooms.
The suit, joined by the NAACP and filed in MiamiDade Circuit Court, seeks an injunction to stop the order to reopen.
Reopening classrooms next month would be “reckless, we believe it is unconscionable,” said Fedrick Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association and a Miami-Dade teacher. “Young people die from this virus. Let’s keep these kids alive.”
In response, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said in a statement that the teachers’ union had misinterpreted the emergency plan.
He said the declaration “did not order any new directives regarding the requirements of schools to be open, it simply created new innovative options for families to have the CHOICE to decide what works best for the health and safety of their student and family.”
Corcoran said the order also assured the state’s 67 school districts that they will continue to get funding as long as they provide students with a quality education.
Still, the union and its lawyers expressed concern on Monday that money will
be withheld if they don’t comply. President Trump on Sunday threatened districts that do not open their classrooms.
“Young people have to go to school, and there’s problems when you don’t go to school, too,” Trump said in an interview aired Sunday on Fox News. “And there’s going to be a funding problem because we’re not going to fund when they don’t open their schools.”
The Republican president blamed Democrats for the push to keep some states and schools closed.
“We got hit with the virus — shouldn’t have happened — and we had to close up. We saved millions of lives,” Trump said. “Now we’ve opened it up, got to go back to school.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis distanced himself from the controversial state order on Monday, pointing out that the state Department of Education had issued the order.
“I didn’t give any executive order. That was the Department of Education,” DeSantis said. “Obviously, if you look at the epidemic, it’s more severe in some parts than others, and I think you should recognize that.”
Figuring out how to reopen
Schools are currently grappling with how to reopen campuses — shuttered in March to stop the spread of the coronavirus — in the face of rising number of cases in Florida. The state on Monday announced another 10,347 cases of COVID-19, maintaining Florida’s status as one of the worst-hit parts of the U.S.
On July 6, the state issued an emergency order that mandated the reopening of school buildings when the new school year starts. The order leaves the decision to local officials based on health considerations.
The new school year is set to start Aug. 19 in Broward, Aug. 10 in Palm Beach County and Aug. 24 in Miami-Dade.
South Florida school officials say it would be difficult to have everyone return to school safely as the coronavirus pandemic continues its relentless spread.
Palm Beach County has announced a plan to start the school year online. Broward has not yet announced its plan. MiamiDade said in-person classes won’t begin until the county enters Phase 2 of reopening after the pandemic. All of South Florida is currently in Phase 1.
Although children are far less likely to experience serious illness from the disease, their lack of symptoms can make them more dangerous carriers. About 13% of children are testing positive for the virus, roughly in line with the rest of the population, according to state figures released over the weekend.
Raising concerns in South Florida
South Florida’s teachers’ unions have voiced support for online education until coronavirus is less widespread. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Stefanie Beth Miller, a secondgrade teacher at Fox Trail Elementary in Davie. She has taught in Broward schools for 22 years.
Miller, 53, said on a Zoom conference call she is a COVID-19 survivor who spent two months in the hospital and 21 days on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. Now she is relearning to speak and move her body with therapy.
Miami-Dade teacher Mindy Festge, another plaintiff in the suit, also expressed her concerns about returning to the classroom. She said her youngest son has a compromised immune system.
Even though MiamiDade likely will not require teachers to return to their classrooms next month, Festge, 51, said she felt obliged to join her fellow teachers around the state whose districts are mandating in-person lessons.
“There are 66 other counties my colleagues work for,” she said. “We cannot isolate ourselves on an island.”
The suit asks a judge to stop the order, create an online instructional plan and make computers available to every student. When buildings are safe to reopen, the suit seeks assurances schools will have adequate protective equipment and smaller class sizes.
A date for a hearing has not yet been set.