Florida Education Association to discuss litigation regarding state’s order to reopen schools in August
Florida Education Association to discuss litigation regarding state’s order to reopen schools in August
With more than 150,000 members representing K-12 teachers, high education professionals and students preparing to become teachers, the FEA is preparing to give its stance on the state’s emergency order to reopen public schools next month.
ORLANDO, Fla. - On the heels of a local lawsuit filed against Governor Ron DeSantis to keep kids out of school, the Florida Education Association (FEA) plans to hold a news conference Monday to also discuss possible litigation.
With more than 150,000 members representing K-12 teachers, high education professionals and students preparing to become teachers, the FEA wants to give its stance on the state’s emergency order to reopen public schools next month.
In a FOX 35 Exclusive, the state’s top pediatrician said Florida is not ready to have kids back in the classroom until the infection rate is down between 3-5 percent.
“I think no one, at least in medicine, believes that it’s safe to go back if we have a rolling average of 14.6 percent in the state,” said Dr. D. Paul Robinson, the president of the Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP).
Dr. Robinson sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis that said infectious disease experts believe the rolling average of positive COVID-19 tests over a rolling two-week period should be down between 3-5 percent before kids go back to learning in classrooms five days a week.
“What we’re concerned about is that we know that if we start schools when there is a high infection rate is that more people are going to get infected and that more schools are going to shut down within just a few weeks,” Dr. Robinson said.
He said the FCAAP believes children do best in school “only in situations in which children can safely go to school.”
He sent a letter to Congress asking leaders for more federal money to get schools ready for when kids do go back to classrooms amid the pandemic.
“So far as I can tell, there have not been funds released to do that and it’s going to cost a lot of money to get the classrooms ready, to do social distancing, to use more classrooms for buses, etc.,” he said.
At 1 p.m. on Monday, the Florida Education Association will hold a news conference to discuss litigation involving the emergency order to reopen schools.
You can watch the news conference live on Fox35Orlando.com.