Officials, parents, and teachers debate August return to class

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida school officials, parents, and teachers were thrown into frenzied debate this week as the state ordered schools to reopen full time in August.

The order, issued Monday by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, coincided with President Donald Trump’s demand that schools reopen in the fall and a subsequent threat that he would cut off federal funding if they did not.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a staunch ally of Trump, backed the push to reopen. And on Thursday, the governor argued that if fast-food restaurants and big-box stores like Home Depot and Walmart can reopen and be deemed “essential” businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, then schools should reopen, too.

Petition to delay in-person classes in Florida

One teacher is on a mission to stop Florida schools from reopening in August. She has launched a Change.org petition and its gaining support.

But parents, teachers, and students are concerned about going back to school amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in Florida. The state has recorded 120,092 new cases --- or roughly 50 percent of the state’s total 244,151 cases --- in the past two weeks, according to data released Friday by the Florida Department of Health.

DeSantis said he has “no doubt” schools can reopen safely because children are at an “extremely low” risk of getting sick.

But many parents and school employees said this week they are worried about putting themselves and their families at risk of getting sick if classrooms reopen in August. Some parents are mulling whether to send their kids back to school.

“It scares me,” Kristen Puckett, a mother of three who lives in Port Orange, said in an interview. “But it’s a matter of balancing. We still have to live, but we have to live carefully and only take risks that we need to take.”

Teachers concerned about returning to classroom

One of the next steps to reopening Florida is sending students back to the classroom, but some teachers are concerned.

The concerns have already been reflected in the reopening plans of some of the state’s largest school districts, including the districts in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

“One thing is clear, at this time we do not see a realistic path to opening all district schools with 100 percent enrollment,” Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a video announcement Tuesday.