Eight Criteria Need To Be Met For Reopening Miami-Dade County Public Schools
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Will South Florida students be allowed to return to class or face full time online learning when school reopens in the Fall? That is the question school leaders are trying to answer while not putting students, faculty, support staff or the community at risk while coronavirus cases continue to surge.
Wednesday night, Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said even partially reopening campuses in August is not looking good after laying out the criteria that he says must be met before students can return to the classroom.
"The number one criteria is the positivity rare in our community. The recommended target is no higher than 10 percent," said Carvalho. "A Phase 1 does not allow for a return to school particularly with the positivity rate that exceeds 30 percent and an increase in hospitalizations."
Carvalho and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez met with prominent health experts on Tuesday to lay out the criteria and discussed them at Wednesday night's school board meeting.
There are eight specific points.
- A sustained COVID-19 positivity rate of less than 10%, trending toward 5%, for 14 days.
- A steady reduction in number of individuals hospitalized.
- A sustained reduction in ICU bed occupancy.
- A continuous reduced viral burden for 14 days with a decrease of virus-positive individuals.
- An increase in viral specific COVID-19 test availability with decreased wait time.
- A turnaround time for test results less than 48 hours.
- An increase in quantity and quality of contract tracing.
- Ensuring vaccinations for school-aged children.
Carvalho said many parents who would've taken children for regular immunizations have not done so. He said the district is launching an awareness campaign.
July 27 is the target date to start informing parents of what will happen, but it may be later.
On Tuesday, Broward Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said he's looking towards 100 percent remote learning to begin the school year.
