CLEARWATER, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a roundtable discussion Wednesday afternoon in Clearwater regarding education and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governor gave several examples of the reasons he supports schools reopening, in a safe and measured approach.
DeSantis said he would rather have school districts start a few weeks late and be prepared than start sooner and not have precautions in place. He said Florida is experiencing "different postures of the epidemic in different parts of the state," so reopening is going to look different.
The governor said he will "absolutely" have his children in school because he thinks it is safe to do so.
"I don't think science has shown that children are major vectors of the virus," DeSantis said.
In a time when there is a lot of anxiety, the governor said, having choices can hopefully reduce these anxieties for parents.
"I'm confident that the same ingenuity we applied in March will be applied to the upcoming school year," DeSantis said.
The governor invited educational leaders, parents and community representatives to also share their thoughts on schools reopening during the roundtable.
One of those leaders was Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. He said the state's emergency order for back-to-school plans in August offer complete flexibility, which empowers parents, protects teachers and preserves funding.
Corcoran said the FLDOE recognizes that a lot of people are working, so they wanted to come up with a solution that benefits everyone.
"Come the end of August, I think you'll see most kids will choose to go face-to-face," Corcoran said.
Corcoran also explained the state's emergency order provides for flexibility within school districts, since each district does not have the same resources as every other.
"I don’t think you’ll have a school district in the state that will go all-virtual," DeSantis added.
Another speaker during the roundtable was a mother whose child has Down syndrome and sensory processing disorder, which she said means her child needs face-to-face intervention in order to thrive. There is a night and day difference from teaching her child through virtual school versus him attending school in person, she said.
She said social settings are absolutely positive for her son and imperative for his learning. It is impossible for her to replicate the therapies provided in a school setting, she said.
"If virtual was our only option, I don’t think it would be a very good option at all," the mother said. "That is not how he learns. He learns on so many scales."
A teacher who spoke at the roundtable added that schools are some of the safest places many children can be.
One of the community leaders who spoke was a man from the Urban League. He said the organization's focus is economic and social justice for the Black community, and two key tenets of that are education and financial success.
He described how many Black children do not have the same access to opportunities outside of a formal school setting.
"Without the school, how are our children going to access the social, emotional and nutritional benefits schools provide?" he asked.
The man cited a CNBC report stating 40% of all Black-owned businesses will close due to COVID-19.
"Please, open our schools safely," he said. "We can rebuild black businesses, but I don’t know how we can rebuild any of our kids’ childhoods."
The roundtable comes after COVID-19 hospitalizations of Florida children jumped 23% from July 17 to July 24.
In the eight-day period, there was also a 34% increase in new cases among children in the state, according to an analysis report of the Florida Department of Health data.
Several Florida physicians are also expected to host a discussion Wednesday to call upon Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump to act immediately to ensure schools are adequately prepared to reopen.
Citing the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Florida children, they say they are sounding the alarm that "without urgent, needed reforms, the state’s schools could be dangerous super-spreader events for COVID-19."
The same time span included the death of Kimora Lynum, a 9-year-old girl from Putnam County who is the youngest person to die from COVID-19 in the state. The family spokesperson said she had no preexisting conditions, but that doesn’t mean her death came as a surprise to medical experts.
“I think this goes to show that anybody of any age can contract COVID-19 if they’re in contact with someone who’s infected," UF Health Chair of Pediatrics Dr. Mark Hudak said.
Although it's rare for children to get severely ill from coronavirus, Hudak explained that doesn’t mean they are less likely to contract it.