JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Speaking in Jacksonville — where two public schools shut down in the last week because of COVID-19 outbreaks — Governor Ron DeSantis said there shouldn't be a situation where a campus shuts down because of the coronavirus. He later admitted he was unaware of the closures when pressed by reporters.
The governor, joined by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcornan, hosted an "education and COVID-19 briefing" at Jacksonville Classical Academy, a charter school in Mixon Town on Tuesday.
DeSantis largely touted Florida schools' reopening, saying that the push for schools to offer in-person classes outweighed the mental health detriments risked by keeping campuses closed.
But simultaneously as the governor spoke in Duval County, two Duval County Public Schools campuses — Duncan Fletcher High School and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts — were hosting virtual classes, following clusters of cases impacting students and faculty members.
"Why did they close?" DeSantis responded to a reporter when asked about the forced closures. "I don't know what happened in those instances so I don't want to speak directly. You should not be quarantining healthy students ... that really is not the way you want to go."
DeSantis added that in his opinion, only symptomatic people should stay home. This contradicts COVID-19 guidance since people with the coronavirus can be asymptomatic. He also said that students are not "the main vectors" of the virus, but adults.
But at Fletcher High School, it's clear that COVID-19 is mainly impacting students, with 39 students and four staff members testing positive according to the school district.
The Times-Union has reached out to the school district as well as school board members for comment, but did not immediately hear back as the governor's briefing overlapped with a previously scheduled school board workshop meeting.
DeSantis also snubbed the Florida Education Association for its pushback against school campuses reopening in August, calling the union's lawsuits "bogus claims."
"Their goal was to keep kids out of school and they were wrong," DeSantis said. The FEA's lawsuit was against schools opening for five-days-per-week of in-person instruction, not to keep classes from resuming at all.
Jacksonville Classical Academy faculty and staff — including Head of School David Withun and two instructors — were present at the briefing.
"The important part is that we’re [learning] together, not with a virtual screen or a plastic partition," Withun said.
In Duval County traditional public schools, desks are largely fitted with plastic partitions in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Masks are also mandated.
But at the Classical Academy press conference, masks were not worn despite the tight quarters and lack of social distancing between DeSantis, Corcoran and the school's staff members.
Corcoran praised Jacksonville Classical Academy's efforts and teaching style, calling it "world class education."
As noted by Florida Politics, the charter school has ties to conservative Hillsdale College, which is funded by GOP donor Ambassador John Rood.
It's unclear how many COVID-19 cases have impacted Jacksonville Classical Academy. The school hasn't published those numbers independently and they are not being tracked by the state Department of Education's school report. Duval County Public Schools said last month that it was unable to track charter school cases within its database.
Corcoran praised DeSantis for his push to reopen schools, saying it "would not have happened without you." But it's worth noting that it was Corcoran's executive order for Florida schools to offer daily in-person instruction that strongarmed school districts into reopening. Despite the executive order mandate not being enforceable, school board members — including in Duval County — voiced reluctance to go against the order citing fears of funding cuts.
DeSantis also praised the return of sports in Florida, failing to mention that just days ago, the University of Florida's head football coach joined the team's long list of COVID-19 positive members, forcing game postponements.
In Duval County, at least a dozen high school football games have had to be moved or postponed because of COVID-19 exposures. Additionally, baseball and volleyball teams, as well as extracurriculars like band, cheer and theater, have faced cancellations because of exposures.
As of Tuesday morning, the school district has reported 254 cumulative COVID-19 cases among students and staff members since the beginning of the school year. Classes started back in August, but the district only migrated to daily instruction for in-person students three weeks ago.
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