JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A group of Duval County educators is protesting the reopening of Florida schools by forming a caravan at the Duval County Public Schools headquarters before marching from a high school to a nearby cemetery.
Two groups of educators calling themselves "Duval for a Safe Return to Campus" and "Duval Schools Pandemic Solutions Team" organized the Tuesday afternoon protest to speak out against the return of students and teachers for brick-and-mortar learning.
The groups are asking Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry to push for increased funding for testing of COVID-19, and for the city to return to phase one of reopening.
"We're no good in the grave," said teacher Sasha Bass. "We just want to live!"
Bass is a mother who also has multiple sclerosis (MS), and is afraid of either bringing COVID-19 home or spreading it to students.
"The slightest cold, the slightest cough, the slightest germ could cause me to go back into the hospital, and it could even cause me to give it to a student," she said. "So it's difficult, it's really hard to even think about and fathom."
In addition to driving in a caravan from DCPS to Andrew Jackson High School, the group of protesters will march from AJHS to Evergreen Cemetery to symbolize any potential loss of life due to reopening.
Once at Evergreen Cemetery, the groups were offered and asked whether they would want to sign documents designating Mayor Curry as "each of our health care surrogates."
"People are meeting virtually to decide whether we go back in the classroom," said teacher and event organizer Alex Ingram. "That tells you enough. If you have to meet virtually, you are not ready to go back in the classroom."
Ingram said another request of the protesters is that more money is invested in the Florida Department of Health to expand testing.
But on the local level, it's a decrease in new cases they want to see before schools reopen physically.
In a press release, the groups listed the following criteria they want to see in place before schools are reopened:
- 14 days of zero reported new local community cases
- Reinstatement of phase one guidelines in Jacksonville until 14 days of declining cases
- Fines for failure to comply with Jacksonville's mask mandate
- Masks required as dress code in Duval County schools
- Immediate shutdown of schools with any positive cases during school year
- Rigorous cleaning and disinfection, personal protective equipment (PPE) for all teachers, students and staff, and remote work available
- Student and staff schedules staggered to allow for social distancing in small groups
- Full-time option for Duval Homeroom for K-12 students and teachers
"Really what we want is 14 days of no new cases, that's the only way that we can be sure that students, faculty, staff, admin and the community are safe," Ingram said.
The march comes on the heels of an announcement by Florida's largest teacher's union, the Florida Education Association, that the union filed a lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the state's Department of Education and Miami-Dade's mayor.
FEA leadership hopes to stop the reopening of schools through circuit court, alleging that opening schools violates Florida's Constitution by not providing a "safe" and "secure" school environment.
First Coast News reached out to Education Commissioner Corcoran, who issued the following response to the lawsuit:
“Clearly the FEA hasn’t read nor understands the Florida Department of Education’s guidance, the Emergency Order No. 2020-EO-06, or Florida law. Currently, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida Statute 1001.42 (the law) required K-12 schools “to operate 180 days” a school year. If you do the math, that equates to 5 days a week for 36 weeks. This E.O. did not order any new directives regarding the requirements of schools to be open, it simply created new innovative options for families to have the CHOICE to decide what works best for the health and safety of their student and family. Additionally, the order created guaranteed funding for districts and schools to educate innovatively, as long as they continue to provide all students, especially at-risk students, with a world-class education, no matter what option they choose. The FEA frequently states that schools are underfunded, and if this frivolous, reckless lawsuit, succeeds it will eliminate these funding guarantees – completely contradicting their normal outcry.”
