MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials met virtually with medical experts to discuss the safest and smartest way to start in-school learning.
School board members held the meeting online with experts from South Florida on Thursday.
“What we hope to do is really have a discussion about the snapshot of what physically, operationally a return to the schoolhouse will look like,” M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. “Hopefully, we will end with a recommendation or a consensus of the group.”
The school district said they are using daily data, including the county’s positivity rate, to help make their decision.
“Over the last 14 days, the trend has continued to decline,” M-DCPS Chief Facilities Officer Jaime Torrens said.
Students and faculty will be mandated to wear masks, schools will be sanitized and deep cleaned daily and school buses will be restricted to one seat per student.
“When you open face-to-face, there’s still going to be individuals who are at such high risk,” Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University, said. “What be they, teachers, other staff or even children that I hope that we continue to have some way of having hybrid or digital education for those particular individuals.”
The meeting comes as Foundation for New Education, the district’s non-profit foundation, is under investigation following a $1.5 million donation from K12, the online learning platform that was suspended following the failed first week of online learning.
Carvalho said the donations were to help give each teacher a $100 gift card.
A spokesperson for the foundation said in a statement, “We welcome the Office of the Inspector General’s review of a contribution for the direct and sole benefit of teachers, whose hard work and dedication during these trying times could not be ignored. We have complete confidence in the OIG’s leadership and objectivity and will fully cooperate in this matter.”
The board will hold a special meeting on possibly returning to school campuses on Monday.
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