Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear
“Before you get to that point of closing a classroom or closing a school, we want to have that communication with you because we want to be as surgical as possible,” Corcoran said, offering to provide specific names and numbers of officials who could take a call.
There is no reason, he said, to automatically close a school just because a student displays symptoms of covid-19 but has not been diagnosed. The goals of a “surgical” approach are to keep “everybody safe” and to allow students to “get the best possible learning experience and the best possible emotional and social support,” he said.
Asked about Corcoran’s comments on districts calling the state before shutting down classrooms or schools, Taryn Fenske, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education, said in an email: “They’re not asking permission nor are we giving permission. We are constantly talking with districts.”
But one district leader, who was on the call with Corcoran and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal from the state, said some district leaders would now be reluctant to unilaterally shut down a school and send all students home for remote learning.
Meanwhile, the board of directors of the Florida High School Athletic Association voted late last week to allow schools to start fall sports Aug. 24 — a decision that ignores a recommendation from the organization’s own medical advisory panel, which had called for delaying fall sports until at least the CONTINUE READING: Florida education chief tells districts: Don’t rush to close schools when covid-19 cases appear - The Washington Post