Mask Controversy Rages As Miami-Dade School Board Preps To Vote

Miami FL

18 August, 2021

9:44 AM

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By Johania Charles, the Miami Times Aug 17, 2021 Miami-Dade County Public Schools are reopening at full capacity in five days – and the clock is running out on school officials who have held off on a decision to enforce or forgo mask requirements on school grounds. Education leaders stand divided on the best course of action for a safe return in the face of record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases, an executive order banning mask mandates, threats to school funding and pending lawsuits. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is siding with a medical task force that recommended masking for the county's students on Monday afternoon. The school board is expected to finalize the decision at a meeting today. Supt. Carvalho Other Florida counties have already decided on COVID-19 protocols for the school year. In an 8-1 vote, the Broward County School Board chose to uphold its decision requiring facial coverings on school grounds and buses, despite sanction threats from Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. School Board Chair Rosalind Osgood responded to a letter from Corcoran last week citing that an opt-out option for parents requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis will not be available because of a spike in COVID-19 cases and the recent coronavirus-related deaths of three educators. Lending credence to her decision is news from the Broward County Health Department that pediatric Intensive Care Units (ICU) are at 94% capacity, while adult ICU is at 96%. School superintendents in Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Duval and Alachua counties are also defying DeSantis' no-mask order. All except Alachua are allowing parents to opt out. Palm Beach has just experienced a COVID-19 scare that's forced 400 students to quarantine, two days into the school year. Earlier this month, DeSantis openly declared war against any school district opposing his mandate ban, saying the state would withhold salaries of superintendents and school officials who went against the emergency order. He recently admitted the state had the power to withhold general funding, only, not salaries. "These masks are not a symbol of anything other than prevention and protection, (and) to politicize this is frankly hitting a new low," said Carvalho at a press conference Friday. Also on Friday, the Biden administration agreed to step in and provide federal funding to any Florida school districts facing financial penalties for issuing mask mandates. In a letter to DeSantis and Corcoran, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said "the department stands with these dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction." Corcoran was not swayed by the letter and called an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon with the State Board of Education to discuss consequences for Broward and Alachua public school systems for requiring a doctor's note to opt out of masks. Biden is prepared to allow school districts to utilize $13.2 billion from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency (ESSER) funds to support employee salaries. Defiant school officials At his 2021 opening of schools address, Carvalho was vocal about doing what is necessary despite possible consequences. "These next few weeks will be difficult no matter what steps we take, there will be condemnation, accusation, demands, threats of consequences for nothing more than attempting to do the right thing," he said after holding up a mask he pulled from his suit pocket. "I want to be clear about another thing, that there is no threat at least to me, to my paycheck, to my salary, that will force me to abdicate from doing the right thing. Our children's lives, their well-being, the lives of our teachers, your lives, are too important." District 5 City Commissioner Jeffrey Watson speaks on preparing students for school at a press conference held by Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, Miami-Dade County school board member, on Friday. (Johania Charles for The Miami Times) District 2 school board member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall voiced her opinion ahead of Wednesday's meeting. "I strongly urge all parents to send their children to school with their masks on and promote social distancing and healthy habits. For those not eligible to receive the vaccine, masks are the key to preventing the spread of the virus," she said. "All children need a hero. How dare we not save the lives of our children?" When asked if the district could survive the threats to funding, she said she is certain the threats will not materialize. "No matter what the threat is, they will not frighten us," Bendross-Mindingall told The Miami Times. "If we don't save our children, we won't have a salary anyway. As a school board member, my job has always been to protect our children. We will go to war for them." She is asking educators, parents and students to call her office at 305.995.2311 for free masks donated by business and community leaders. "As a responsible business owner, I bought about $5,000 worth of masks from my own money to give away to those who might need it," said Joel Olivier, owner of Penny Diapers. "My grandson is going back to school, too, and I know that this is the only way we'll be able to beat the pandemic, by wearing the masks." Not every M-DCPS board member is in favor of masking. "I do not support masking our children. I stand firm on giving the choice to our parents," Lubby Navarro, representing District 7, said in a tweet. Regina Davis, a parent advocate, thinks parents should be open to sending their children to school with some sort of facial covering. "My grandchildren will be going to school with the masks for their safety and the safety of the staff and children around," she said. "I encourage every parent to put a mask on their children and if they're at a school where [other] children are not wearing masks and they feel uncomfortable, they have to make the best decision for their children and if MSO [My School Online] is not an option, it may have to become one." Davis is concerned that sending off her six grandchildren without proper cautionary measures could result in her entire family contracting the virus, or those who may have other medical conditions. "If I compared the health issues from the mask and the health issues from the virus then the virus outweighs them 10 to 1," she said in response to the idea that masks can negatively impact health. "I am one of those parents that will make my children wear their masks in school," said Nina Johnson, a mother preparing to send her son off to Carol City Senior High School next week. "I don't agree with not having them masked and think schools should require it." Taking legal action Some Florida parents are bringing serious legal firepower to the fight. A Leon County judge's decision on a lawsuit filed by nine families against DeSantis' mask mandate is imminently expected. Elvin Dowling, a candidate for the late Alcee Hastings' congressional seat, is also suing the governor. "[DeSantis] is still behaving like an unhinged dictator," he said in a statement. "Someone must stand up and say enough is enough." In Miami-Dade County, David Winker is representing parents who are still fearful of sending their children back to school, and demanding that the MSO option from last year be reinstated. "In effect, the M-DCPS is giving parents a dismal choice – send your kids to school or unenroll from their school of choice," he wrote to Carvalho. In the letter, he compared the 222 COVID-19 cases of last March to the almost 50,000 cases just days before Miami's school start date of Aug. 23. Despite the county's 14% positivity rate, Johnson wants to send her children back to school after witnessing their regression with the remote learning model. Her main concern is sending them back prepared, but because her employment was affected by the pandemic it's difficult. Through their event planning business, two M-DCPS educators held a back-to-school giveaway at the New Generation Missionary Baptist Church in Opa-locka Sunday to help parents and students have one less thing to worry about this fall. New Generation Missionary Baptist Church members hand out book bags at a back-to-school drive-through giveaway on Sunday. (Johania Charles for The Miami Times) The National Retail Federation is estimating that parents and educators will spend more money this year on school supplies now that prices have gone up by at least 20%. "Earlier during the pandemic when we had to go back in to work, a lot of kids would come in with no book bag or supplies so we decide to get donations for school supplies and backpacks to bless kids just to go back into the 2021-22 school year," said Seantavia Samuels, an ESE teacher at Arcola Lakes Elementary School. "Last year was really challenging for me because I was teaching both students who were there in person and those attending online," said Dina Cine, a teacher at Brownsville Middle School and an organizer of the event. "This year with everyone coming back and class sizes going back to 25+ students and the rising cases, this school year will also be difficult. We want to make sure they won't need to borrow supplies from someone else to minimize the spread." Damon Peele holds up book bags he picked up for his children at a giveaway on Sunday at New Generation Missionary Baptist Church. (Johania Charles for The Miami Times) A total of 145 book bags were distributed containing supplies like notebooks, pencils, hand sanitizers and wipes. "If there is a child that is in need throughout the school year, we have materials here on campus," said Rev. Ranzer Thomas, New Generation's senior pastor. "We have an abundance of hand sanitizers and masks to supply as well." Associate minister Damon Peele, who has two school-age children, is alarmed by the mask mandate controversy and vaccine hesitancy in the face of the highly contagious delta variant. "My children are vaccinated, my entire family has been vaccinated, but I do have concerns as it pertains to children that are not vaccinated, and teachers and staff as well," he said while picking up book bags for his children. "Bringing both groups together, you may have a situation where some people are sick. It will put us in a digression and reverse all the progress we made from last year, so I definitely support a mask mandate. Funding shouldn't be withheld because of it because our public schools need funding now more than ever." As parents and educators, Samuels and Cine are also crossing their fingers in hopes that the M-DCPS school board will accept suggestions for a mask mandate. They plan to ask their students to wipe down their individual desks before class is over and have extra sanitary supplies in the classrooms. Protecting Miami students Though COVID-19 guidelines and procedures are on the Wednesday school board meeting agenda and have yet to be officially released to teachers and parents, Carvalho shared some practices that will be implemented during the school year. The public school system will invest a total of $200 million to update heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and $75 million to enhance cybersecurity measures, support network infrastructure upgrades and using EESER funds to address learning loss and mental health issues caused by the pandemic. A new spread prevention measure will no longer require full classrooms to quarantine if someone tests positive for the coronavirus. Only those who were in the immediate vicinity of the infected person will be required to isolate. Overtown Youth Center, a nonprofit organization providing youth development programming to the South Florida community, is gearing up to have staff members working out of several M-DCPS sites this fall while its building is under construction. The county's decision on mask mandates may not affect OYC students and staff because the organization implemented its own guidelines. With a full-scale programming expansion and a goal to serve 350-400 students across the county, OYC is not taking preparations lightly. "We have very strict COVID-19 protocols in place and we're abiding by CDC and county guidelines," said Diana Santangelo, chief program officer for OYC. "All of our students and staff regardless of vaccination status are wearing masks, social distancing and utilizing PPE. While we know that in-person programming is the most effective, we need our kids and families to be safe first and foremost." Kimberly Morrow, a California educator and parent advocate, is closely following the mask showdown in Florida and wants to remind parents of their rights. "Right now the parents who oppose the mask mandates are the loudest ones so they're getting the most attention," she said. "The laws that protect parents who don't want their children to be masked also protect the parents who want their children to be safe, and sometimes as parents we don't always understand what those are." If parents are not happy with the outcome of Wednesday's vote, she said that they could follow the chain of command, starting with a meeting with their child's school principal, then school board, city or state officials. To transition students from remote learning to in-person school, parents are encouraged to have a conversation with their children's respective schools for their latest COVID-19 guidelines, model healthy habits and social distancing practices for students to mimic in the classroom, and create a safe space for their children to express how they feel about returning back to school this fall. California leads the country in COVID-19 cases, followed by Texas, then Florida. Unlike DeSantis, California Gov. Gavin Newsom backs mask mandates and has imposed a statewide school mask rule. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.