A Canadian View On the US: Florida Style
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By Jo-Ann “Jo D NL” Duke
In an article by J. Edward Moreno that was posted on July 11, 2020 by THE HILL. The Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis had said Thursday that in his mind that it was comparable in the matter of reopening the state’s public school as it was to reopening retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, and fast food restaurants.
DeSantis’ comments in Jacksonville, FL indicated that the government had been saying for months that certain things were essential; and as stated above, this included restaurants and big box retailers. DeSantis said in Jacksonville, Fla., CNN reported.
A direct quote of the governor was, “If fast food and Walmart and Home Depot and look, I do all that, so I’m not looking down on it — but if all that is essential, then educating our kids is absolutely essential.”
While initially this may sound mildly reasonable, however after a great deal of further thought, you will come to the realization that while it may be true that Florida’s citizens are going to these establishments.
I think that we can all agree that no one is going every day during the week, and that they are getting in and out of the stores as quickly as possible, that they are not spending 7 hours there, surrounded by people for the whole time.
It would be most likely that they are trying to stay away from people as much as possible, well, we hope this is true for their sakes as well as their family members whom they are going home to.
It is still highly unwise for students to be going back to school for full school days, even with the reduced class sizes that have been in effect since the maximum class numbers were reached in the 2010-2011 school year.
As seen below from information taken from the Florida Department of Education’s own webpage, it lists the class sizes which states that there can only be 18 students in prekindergarten through grade 3; and 22 students in grades 4 through 8; and finally 25 students in grades 9 through 12.
Normally this would not be an issue, but with the physical (social) distancing of 6 feet, or as far apart as can be accommodated, that has been recommended that would be needed between each student that is required for the hope of lessening transmission of the Coronavirus between students, not including the space needed for the desks to be separated, unless all classes are huge and they can spread out easily.
This does not seem to address the issue of the budget issues of the individual school districts, which are now facing the prospect of trying to purchase the needed safety equipment that will allow them to open safely within the public health guidelines.
As has been estimated by the School Superintendents Association of Florida, it will average out to about 1.8 million dollars per school district to do this, just to ensure that the students attending their schools will hopefully be safe when they are sent back to school.
Unless the federal government is able to allocate all necessary additional emergency funding, it would seem that this will not be able to happen. If so, then this will see students going back to schools that will not be safe for them to attend.
The parents of these students will be forced to decide on what they have to do, whether they will make their children go back and face the possibility of getting infected by a classmate that may be carrying the virus.
Yes, while the amount of young children contracting the virus and ending up with a severe case is not as high as that of an adult, there have been many cases of children under the age of 18 who have been affected.
Data taken from the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children — United States, February 12–April 2, 2020 pages show that from 149,760 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurring during February 12–April 2, 2020 were analyzed.
Interestingly enough, among 149,082 (99.6%) reported cases for which age was known, 2,572 (1.7%) were among children aged <18 years. This information also included that there were severe outcomes reported among children, including 3 deaths.
So, yes, this disease can affect children. In this preliminary description of pediatric U.S. COVID-19 cases, relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Severe outcomes have been reported in children, including three deaths.
What are the implications for public health practice? Pediatric COVID-19 patients might not have fever or cough.
Social distancing and everyday preventive behaviors remain important for all age groups because patients with less serious illness and those without symptoms likely play an important role in disease transmission.
It has to be noted that these numbers are almost three months old, so unfortunately the numbers may be quite a bit higher now for cases involving children under the age of 18 years.
It has to be said that if a fellow classmate is asymptomatic, then neither the teacher or the other students have any way of knowing this; and this opens up the likelihood of a student getting infected.
This will lead to the student bringing the virus home to their immediate family and also including relatives of all ages, who may be more susceptible to the virus, due to pre-existing medical conditions.
As we know, many of the state residents of Florida are elderly or they have medical conditions that may place them at greater risk if they become infected with Covid-19; including many people from my province who like to winter in Florida.
They are affectionately known as Snowbirds, because they spend a minimum of four months in Florida each year, to get away from the intense Newfoundland winters. If the elderly residents or visitors who are living in Florida become infected with Covid-19, this will most likely lead to a long hospitalization in the best case scenario, and worst case scenario, of even the great possibility of passing away from it.
I can only imagine the emotional effect that could be felt by the child who loses a relative if or more probably when this event occurs. How much of an effect will this have on the child’s psychological health, not only now but for the rest of their lives; because no matter what their parents tell them, they will have to deal with the way they feel, and the guilt they may keep from this.
The Floridian governor, well known for his staunch support of the president, seems willing to enforce the idea of the federal government pressuring the different state governors to reopen schools for the new school year if they are not eager to do so of their own accord.
However, is this a good idea? I would say no right now, since it can be easily seen that Florida is experiencing an extremely severe rise in their number of Covid-19 cases.
Based on numbers coming out every day, I would say that it is not a good idea at the moment. In fact, it could be said that they are one of the states hit the hardest in the country.
It cannot be easily argued that Florida is in the same positions as the states that have gotten a handle on their coronavirus cases, and have basically flattened the curve in their states.
Each day in Florida there are alarming numbers of new cases that are being reported. An example of this is that on Friday, July 10, 2020, just yesterday, there were 11,443 new cases reported.
The governor has said that children learning online is not the same as attending physical classes at their schools. At the same time, he also stated that due to this situation, he feels that the state’s children are missing out on regular school activities.
However, he did concede though that he would support parents who decide to online school their children versus sending them back to their regular schools.
For me personally, his last statement was alarming when he made the comment, and I quote, “But I’m confident if you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools. I want our kids to be able to minimize this education gap that I think has developed.”
I have to say that in my opinion, that you cannot compare spending a short amount of time at a store or stopping into a restaurant with sending vulnerable children to school for at least seven hours a day where they will be confined during that time with the same people during that length of time.
Now speaking as a Canadian, and I am speaking for my own provincial government, as I am sure that you would not want to list what all ten provinces and territories are doing for the new school year starting in September.
Newfoundland and Labrador, my province, is looking at implementing the following scenarios to get students back to school safely if it is possible to do so at that time.
They include the following three scenarios, which are taken directly from the Newfoundland and Labrador government’s K-12 Education Re-entry Plan, and you can find it at the following link, if you wish to read the entire plan:
https://www.gov.nl.ca/eecd/files/education-re-entry-document.pdf.
Scenario 1:
In-school classes resume (near normal with health measures). This scenario will be initiated based on public health advice when the risk of COVID-19 transmission is very low.
Regular in-class instruction resumes for all K-12 students.
School districts must follow public health measures for student learning and extra-curricular activities, including physical distancing when possible.
Virtual learning or other forms of structured learning must be put in place for students who are required to stay home because they are sick or in isolation due to COVID-19 infection or exposure.
Scenario 2:
In-school classes partially resume (with additional health measures)
This scenario will be initiated based on public health advice when the risk of COVID-19 is low to moderate.
Priority is for in-class instruction for ALL K- 6 students, to the extent possible.
100 per cent in-school participation for students with exceptionalities and/or who require additional supports.
Minimum of 30 – 50 per cent in-class instruction; balance of learning will be online/remote instruction.
Priority for K-6 children of essential workers required to report to work under the province’s Alert Level 4 and 5.
Taking into consideration local circumstances, school districts may divide students into two or more groups to go back to in-school classes on an alternating schedule.
School districts must follow public health measures for student learning and extra-curricular activities, including physical distancing when possible.
With physical distancing requirements, school districts will need to consider: bus transportation; parent drop off/pickup protocols; entry to the school; the start and end times for school days; how classes are scheduled; large gatherings, such as recess and lunch breaks (may need to off-set schedules, limit number of students and supervisors); washroom use; • movement in hallways; use of auxiliary spaces; the configuration of furniture and equipment to ensure that physical distancing, to the extent possible, is in place; hygiene and cleaning protocols; and protocols for isolating students who become ill at school.
Scenario 3:
At-home learning continues (In-school classes are suspended/cancelled)
This scenario will be initiated based on public health advice in the event of moderate to widespread transmission of COVID-19.
School districts offer at-home instruction and learning opportunities to their students. The expectation is that teaching and assessment of curriculum outcomes will continue.
As such, teachers may be required by school districts to be in attendance at school, unless that school has been ordered closed by public health.
To the extent possible, school districts must consider and enable the full participation and inclusion of students with exceptionalities within the school environment.
Following are the expectations on the number of instructional hours for the education system when operating within Scenario 3 for the 2020-21 school year. These instructional hours are minimums and school districts have the flexibility to increase hours beyond these minimums.
Now, as I said, I have heard what the governor of Florida has said about opening the schools for the new year, but I wonder what plans have been made by him or his advisers?
What plans have they made for the schools to ensure that all of Florida’s children are safe as they venture back to school. I am sure that all the parents in Florida are asking the same question.
Hopefully, the governor will be able to answer this and any other questions that all the children’s parents will have before they are willing to risk the health of their children and everyone else in their families by sending their children back to their schools.
Well, once again I am signing off from here in Newfoundland, on the east coast of Canada, wishing all of my American friends, both old and new, the best, and much love.
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