MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After a day and a half long meeting, the Miami-Dade School Board has unanimously voted to push back the date for the return of students to the classroom.
On Tuesday, the board voted to delay the start of classroom instruction for the first group of students to October 14.
Everyone else would go back by October 21st.
The vote came after the board listened to 18 and a half hours of recorded public comment on whether schools should reopen so students can return to their classrooms.
CBS4’s Brooke Shafer, who had been monitoring the meeting, said many of the speakers were overwhelmingly against reopening classrooms.
Some who left comments said the school district was not properly prepared, it would be “irresponsible” to send employees back without a plan, and the return should not be rushed.
Parents and teachers also expressed concern about aging ventilation systems in some schools.
“Our main building is 45 years old already and it has no windows. The air conditioning is down more often than not and the humidity gets and smells so bad that the paper curls on the corners and the tape comes off the walls,” said one person.
“It’s an old building. I only have one window and it will be a problem as far as ventilation goes,” said another.
During the start of the meeting on Monday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho revealed his plan on getting students back into the classroom.
Under his proposal, on September 30th, early childhood and students with special needs on a modified curriculum would return to get used to their new environments and routines. This would include PK, K, 1st grade, and ESE modified curriculum students for all grades.
On Monday, October 5th, elementary school grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 would return as would K-8 grades 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Middle school students in the 6th grade would also return along with high school students in grades 9 and 10.
Also returning October 5th would be combination school students in grades 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10.
The district is facing pressure because of a state funding factor tied to the number of kids who are actually in their seats in school the week of October 5th.
All remaining grades would return on October 7th. This includes K-8 Center grades 7 and 8, middle school grades 7 and 8, high school grades 11 and 12, and combination school grades 7, 8, 11, and 12.
The high school start time would revert back to 7:20 a.m. beginning on October 5th.
The superintendent said the staggered return would allow schools to test social distancing protocols and adjust them if necessary.
“We are proposing one meter(of separation). Three feet, three inches maybe, more,” he said.
School Board member Maria Teresa Rojas said she didn’t think a three-foot distance was enough to stop the spread of droplets, but six was a better idea.
The superintendent said their plan is based on public health experts’ recommendations.
“Our plan relies on science. Our plan relies on the advice of public health and medical experts,” he added. “Our plan relies on the dynamic monitoring of local health conditions.”
Masks will be required and water fountains will be disconnected. Every school have will have bottled water available and water bottle filling stations may be a possibility.
Schools will be inspected daily and students will be able to keep their laptops, charging carts will be set up.
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September 23, 2020 at 03:26AM
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Miami-Dade School Board Votes To Push Back Return Of Students To Classroom - CBS Miami
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