Broward County superintendent pushes for full online classes if coronavirus cases don't decline
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Officials in Broward County, Florida are not optimistic that coronavirus cases will decline low enough to reopen schools at the start of the semester and will have 100 percent online classes if the numbers don't improve soon.
Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said Tuesday that he "will not budge" from making a decision that places the health and safety of students, teachers, and staff above a timely school opening.
"When we open schools in August, instruction will be 100 percent e-learning if conditions do not improve and it continues to worsen,” Runcie said during a virtual workshop, according to reports by WSVN.
Related: Teachers across several Tampa Bay counties to protest school-reopening plans
Broward County is the second hardest-hit region of the state and has steadily seen an uptick in cases over the past few weeks after officials began easing coronavirus restrictions.
Experts have attributed lack of social distancing and people not heeding warnings to wear masks as contributing factors to the new surge in cases, which hit 32,814 in Broward on Tuesday.
The county saw an increase of 1,330 new cases from the previous day and the daily positivity rate climbed to over 16 percent, according to data from the Florida Health Department.
“Given where we are now, and the trendlines that we just heard — and they’re not getting better — I don’t see how literally within a month that we would be able to open schools in a manner that we desire to do,” Runcie said.
Related: Protester yells 'shame on you' at DeSantis during COVID-19 press conference
School districts statewide are wrestling with the best way to restart school in the fall as August quickly approaches, even as President Trump and administration officials demand the country reopen schools at the earliest possible date.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued an executive order last week requiring all of Florida's public schools to reopen in August for at least five days a week for all students. Schools wanting to provide online classes to students are required to submit a reopening plan to the Florida Department of Education that satisfies the requirements laid out in the order.
Tuesday also brought with it a record one-day death toll of 132 people in the state killed by the virus.