Pasco County teachers association to ask court for injunction on order to open schools

LAND O' LAKES, Fla. - A state order says in-person school instruction must begin at the end of the month but more than a dozen teachers rallying outside of the Pasco County School Board offices are telling board members to stop the train before it's too late.

“Our reasoning -- it is pretty much a one-liner,” said teacher Joanne Sareyani. “We want a safe return.”

A safe return, they believe, would mean online-only classes. Brick-and-mortar classrooms would remain closed until the county records 14 straight days of declining coronavirus case numbers and a positive case rate of less than 5%.

The positivity rate in Pasco County has shown nearly a 2% decline over the last two weeks, but at 8.3%, it’s still above the threshold.

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“I think about the children more than anything else,” Sareyani said. “We could put everything possible in place, but it’s the children, and they come first.

The county’s teachers association leader Donald Peace says, come Friday, he will ask a court to stop the state’s emergency order that requires in-person instruction to begin by the end of August.

“The commissioner of education usurped his authority,” Peace said. “This school board should be making the decision for Pasco County, and that authority has been taken away by virtue of tying funding to a decision.”

Peace says, he believes if the power is given back to the school district, board members will act in their favor.

“We have one of the best e-schools in the state,” he said. “We’ve extended our hybrid model online. It’s certainly something we could slide right into.”

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Once the teachers association writes its proposed injunction, it will be sent to a court for review. Peace hopes to have that done in a few days.

Meanwhile, teachers say even if schools move to an all-online format, the district’s support staff -- including counselors, coaches, and cafeteria workers -- could be at risk of losing their jobs.