VIRGINIA KEY, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miami-Dade County public school is welcoming back students after a COVID scare.
Maritime and Science Technology Academy reopened their campus to students on Tuesday after two students tested positive for coronavirus.
7News spoke with some students who had mixed feelings about being back on campus.
“We feel pretty safe coming because they disinfected everything and they called the parents of the kids who were in those classrooms, so I feel pretty safe coming back,” said one student.
“I don’t think we were prepared because we were forced to go back to school much earlier than we were supposed to,” said another student.
M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he wanted to make sure that the district had enough time to notify anyone who came in close contact with the infected students before resuming in-person learning.
“This is precisely why we did not want our schools to reopen,” said United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats.
“It was a significant number of students that had direct contact with these two students,” Carvalho said. “It was virtually impossible to notify just those students Sunday. Therefore, we made the decision yesterday to close the school down today.”
United Teachers of Dade shared an image captured by a student that showed crowded hallways.
“This is a lesson for students,” said Hernandez-Mats. “We heard that these students may have contracted COVID-19 from being at a party and exposing themselves.”
“No matter what you do, if there’s over 100 kids in a school, you know, and there’s pretty close tight hallways, that’s just how the school is built, you’re going to eventually pass against another person,” one student said.
Since the staggered start of the school year, 11 students and one employee have tested positive at the following schools:
- William Lehman Elementary
- Zora Neale Hurston Elementary
- Poinciana Park Elementary
- Charles D. Wyche Jr. Elementary
- Flagami Elementary School
- North Dade Center for Moden Languages Elementary
- Coral Park Elementary
- Royal Green Elementary
“It was almost inevitable that we would come across a number of cases in our district,” Carvalho said.
One positive student at Flagami Elementary School was reported over the weekend. The school has been sanitized but has not been shut down.
Students returned to class Monday morning.
“If children are exhibiting symptoms, do not send them to school,” said Carvalho. “Inform the school community.”
MAST Academy was the only school with positive cases that was shut down for the day.
The school building has been thoroughly sanitized.
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