JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Just 10 days into the school year, the district is reporting 589 COVID-19 cases. According to Duval County School Board Member Darryl Willie, last year at this time, that number was 20.
The data prompted Willie to call for an emergency School Board meeting to get rid of mask opt-out provisions and toughen COVID-19 protections. In an email to School Board Chair Elizabeth Andersen and Superintendent Dr. Diana Green obtained by First Coast News, he said it is time to address "an issue that is clearly an emergency, as every day, our students and employees are becoming sick with a life-threatening virus."
“At this point, the data is in,” Willie told First Coast News. “If you look at the data 10 days in, the numbers are much higher than last year.”
As one of the first Florida districts to return to school on Aug. 10, Duval School Board members attempted to craft policies to protect students but not run afoul of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mandatory masks. Since then, other Florida school districts have more directly challenged the governor’s order, something Willie says is the right thing to do.
“We were testing the waters there at first,” he says. “Since then, others have said let’s go a little farther. We have seen the path if we make certain decisions, we know what the path is ahead.”
That path includes possible financial sanctions. School boards in Broward, Alachua, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Sarasota counties have all defied DeSantis and the state Board of Education, by choosing to implement mask mandates in schools. Several have been threatened with funding cuts, including salaries of school board members.
Willie says despite the threats he is “in, all the way, I am definitely.” He added, “I approach this from two perspectives – one as the District 4 School Board member, but also -- I have two kids in our schools. I get the same emails and I have the same anxiety.”
"Now we have the data," he said, "we have to do everything we can to protect our kids.”
Willey’s email to School Board Chair Elizabeth Andersen and Superintendent Dr. Diana Green is below.
Dr. Greene and Chair Andersen,
Based on this updated data and the lag/response time of DOH, and the “grave concern” from our Superintendent. It is indeed time to come back together to discuss our safety measures. To date, we have a quarter of the cases (in 2 weeks) that we had the entire 2020-21 school year.
Per 2.26(1)(g), I am requesting an emergency board meeting (Monday, Tuesday at the latest) to address an issue that is clearly an emergency, as every day, our students and employees are becoming sick with a life-threatening virus, and an emergency meeting is needed to discuss this data and alter or change any policy that could help mitigate these cases.
Policy 2.26(1)(g) defines an "emergency meeting" as a meeting called without at least 48-hour notice to the public for a particular issue when the Chairperson or Board members determine that an issue is an emergency or urgent public necessity. Unlike a special meeting, the emergency meeting section does not address the need for a majority of board members to request the meeting and only requires the Board Chair or Board members (more than one member) to determine that an issue is an emergency.
Chair Andersen and board to ensure compliance with sunshine laws, please do not reply all to this email communication.
Darryl Willie
School Board Member - District 4
“We make the weather”