Manatee School Board member says Corcoran’s order to reopen schools was ‘brilliant’

Manatee County school board member Scott Hopes made a case for reopening schools during a virtual court hearing on a lawsuit filed by the state teachers union challenging a state order to reopen.

The union is hoping to curb Florida Education Commission Richard Corcoran’s requirement schools to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawyers on Friday presented their closing arguments, and a judge could issue his ruling before the end of the month.

Hopes, one of five school board members in Manatee County, appeared Thursday as a witness for the state, defending Corcoran’s order and praising the state’s education commissioner.

“The initial reaction when I read the first paragraph was a little bit of shock,” Hopes said. “Commissioner Corcoran is a great friend of mine. Then I stood back and I read the entire document. I read it twice. And really, I’ve got to say, I found it to be artistic and brilliant at the same time.”

The order required schools to reopen and offer in-person classes “at least five days per week.” Hopes said the order was valuable to families who wanted their children to learn in person, and that Corcoran’s order allowed districts to offer multiple options.

In Manatee County, students were given the option to return five days a week, to continue with full-time online learning or to enroll in a hybrid schedule, rotating between in-person and online classes.

In-person classes, he said, were important to the many children who fell behind or disappeared during the months of online learning that followed school closures in March. Hopes said families rely on school to provide their children with quality academics, social-emotional learning and daily meals.

“We have worked very hard,” Hopes said. “Our district, had we graded the district this year, we would have been an ‘A’ district for the first time in the history of the district. Our third-grade reading level had come up, and quite frankly, that had been one of my goals and the superintendent’s goal.”

“Regardless of this pandemic, you know, we were not going to lose the gains that we had achieved for these children,” he continued.

The school board voted 3-2, with Charlie Kennedy and Dave Miner dissenting, to approve the superintendent’s reopening plan last month. And though he supported the plan, Hopes acknowledged the dangers created by COVID-19.

“If I had children in school today, knowing what I know with my background, I wouldn’t be sending them to school,” Hopes said during the meeting last month, referencing his background in epidemiology.

“That’s the bottom line,” he continued. “I would not be sending them to school. That being said, we have given parents a full array of options to meet their individual needs and the desire of their family.”

During a period for cross examination on Thursday afternoon, the plaintiff’s attorney questioned Hopes about similar statements on COVID-19 and the state’s push to reopen schools. The attorney, Kendall Coffey, said he spoke with Hopes last weekend, and that Hopes “had a lot of problems with what the state was doing.”

“In fact, in one of our conversations, you said that you didn’t think the state was going about it the right way and they really should spend the next few months getting it right and then open for in-class education, like, beginning of the new year,” Coffey said.

“That is absolutely not what I said,” Hopes responded.

“And do you remember telling Pat Barber, the head of the teachers union (in Manatee), that you didn’t think the schools around Florida were ready to open?” the attorney continued.

“I do not think that is a characterization of that conversation,” Hopes said, again denying the attorney’s statements.

When asked if teachers were given a say in the reopening plan, Hopes said the district worked closely with the union.

“She was very much, including her board, were very much an integral part from the beginning of developing our reopening plan, and we had their support,” Hopes said during the hearing.

Barber, the longtime head of the Manatee Education Association, later disputed Hopes’ assessment.

“We never supported or opposed the reopening plan openly,” Barber said. “That was a decision made by the elected school board under pressure of the executive order.”

“We discussed issues surrounding health and safety,” the union president continued. “Those discussions included what was in the plan, but not ‘What do you think about the plan? What should be in the plan? What should the plan look like?’ You know, that kind of stuff.”

During his cross examination, Coffey also referenced a July 8 article in the Bradenton Herald. At the time, Hopes said it was the school board‘s responsibility to protect 50,000 students and thousands of employees in the school district. If the board failed, he said, the consequences would be dire.

“If each one of those individuals only has contact with four people in the community, our school community basically has contact, every day, with over half the population of Manatee County,” he said at the time. “I love research, but I’m not about to use the Manatee County School District for a study of how quickly you can spread the virus this fall.”

Hopes stood by that statement on Thursday afternoon, and he highlighted the use of masks, barriers and other safety equipment in the district.

“I’ve used that numerous times as one way to motivate the community to understand why it’s important that we follow these CDC guidelines to reduce the spread in Manatee County,” he said during the hearing.

Manatee County students, including the thousands of students enrolled in on-campus learning, began on Monday. As of Wednesday evening, five campuses reported COVID-19 cases and exposures.

This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 7:25 PM.