Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho On Mask Use For Upcoming School Year: 'Decision Cannot Be Rushed'
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - So, will Miami-Dade students be wearing masks when they go back to class in August? On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the school district is carefully monitoring the latest developments concerning COVID-19.
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is carefully monitoring the latest developments concerning COVID-19 to ensure decisions are made that best safeguard the wellbeing of students and employees," said Carvalho in a released statement.
School officials had already announced that a mask optional protocol would be in place of the upcoming school year, but that was based on the conditions at the time.
"At this time, in light of the recent release of updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we believe it is prudent to take this conversation back to our task force of medical and public health experts," added Carvalho.
The superintendent said, "This is an important decision that cannot be rushed and must continue to be evaluated based on the scientific information available."
"With evolving situations such as this one, every day and week matter," he said. "M-DCPS has a later start date than most other Florida school districts, and we will use this later start date to our advantage as we continue to make decisions that prioritize the health of our students and employees."
Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade, released a statement calling for the school district to follow the mask guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC.
"With the Delta variant explosive spread across Miami-Dade over the past couple of weeks, and its resultant increase in hospitalizations, we believe that the newly issued mask guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC are in the best interest of our students and educators. M-DCPS should follow the recommendations from these medical experts to ensure a safe and successful reopening for our community."
On Tuesday, the Broward School Board suspended its decision on mask-wearing for students for the upcoming school year.
Protesters set masks on fire.
Governor Ron DeSantis held a round table discussion earlier Tuesday with his allies on opposing mask mandates for schools.
Last week, DeSantis doubled down on his opposition to mask mandates for students.
"There's been talk about potentially people advocating at the federal level, imposing compulsory masks on kids," DeSantis said. "We're not doing that in Florida, OK? We need our kids to breathe."
