How will COVID affect students? Manatee School Board calls special meeting on pandemic

The School Board of Manatee County has scheduled a special meeting for Monday, a day before the return of students, to discuss COVID-19 and the new school year.

According to the agenda published on Thursday afternoon, Monday’s special meeting has one item: a conversation on back-to-school recommendations from the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Department of Health.

Guidelines from Florida health and education officials are expected on Friday, when the State Board of Education is slated to hold an emergency meeting on new rules stemming from the pandemic, along with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to stomp out mask mandates in schools.

The first rule “will provide criteria to avoid learning loss and consider a student in attendance” when COVID-19 forces students to stay home.

The second rule would allow parents to use a Hope Scholarship and transfer their children to a private school when “a school district’s COVID-19 protocols, including masking, pose a health or educational danger to their child,” the state education board said in its meeting notice.

“Health protocols for schools, including masking, will be addressed by the Department of Health,” the notice continues.

The Hope Scholarship is currently open to K-12 students who face bullying, harassment or “other violent acts” in a public school, helping them to enroll in an approved private school. Allowing students to use the Hope Scholarship to avoid mask requirements in public schools is the latest development in a tug-of-war between DeSantis and local school districts.

Last week, the governor issued an executive order to curtail mask mandates. It directed state health and education officials to create rules that protect Floridians’ constitutional freedoms and parents’ right to make health decisions for their children.

The order also threatened to cut state funding in school districts that fail to comply.

DeSantis made his recent order — “Ensuring Parents’ Freedom to Choose, Masks in Schools” — despite recent guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which both support mask use among all educators and students above the age of 2.

In turn, a handful of school districts approved or maintained their mask requirements, citing the record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases in Florida, along with the highly contagious delta variant that’s fueling a new surge:

• Orange County Public Schools: In an update this week, Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said she was making masks mandatory for all district employees. Face coverings were also strongly recommended for students.
• Broward County Public Schools: A districtwide mask mandate will remain in place before the School Board continues its discussion on Aug. 10.
  
  
• Alachua County Public Schools: The district is requiring masks for all employees through Sept. 17, and for all students through Aug. 17. District officials and School Board members will review COVID-19 data and re-evaluate the mandates when each expires, the Independent Florida Alligator reported.
• Duval County Public Schools: The School Board voted on Tuesday to make face masks mandatory for students. However, parents and guardians can opt out by filing the required paperwork, the Florida Times-Union reported.
• Leon County Schools: Superintendent Rocky Hannah sent a letter to Gov. DeSantis, asking for the “flexibility and the autonomy” to implement a temporary mask mandate for students in elementary and middle school.

In Manatee County, the School Board voted unanimously to end its districtwide mask mandate last May. There have been no changes since that time.

Charlie Kennedy, the Manatee County School Board’s chairman, said that Monday’s special meeting was a chance to discuss updates at the state level, and to provide a final update to families before school officially starts on Tuesday.

“We’ve been receiving a heavy volume of email from concerned parents,” he said. “My purpose is just to get all the information out there to parents.”

Know more about Monday’s School Board Meeting

When: Monday’s meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Walter E. Miller School Support Center.

Where: 215 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

Livestream: School Board meetings are broadcast live on Spectrum Channel 646 and Frontier Channel 39, along with the Manatee Schools Television website, mstv.us.

Public Comment: To submit a comment in advance, send an email to public_comment@manateeschools.net.

In-person comment: To address the board in person, visit manateeschools.net, navigate to the “District” tab, click on “School Board” and then click on “Minutes and Agendas.” You can then pick a meeting date and follow the link for public comment registration. Otherwise, you can arrive to the meeting early and sign up before the board convenes.

This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 3:19 PM.