The return of classes has started a new conversation in the Palm Beach County school district. With an emergency order given by Gov. Ron DeSantis, parents are given the final say on whether or not their children wear masks at school.
Many have opposed and supported the governor’s ruling, both in and outside of the school district. According to WPTV, Palm Beach County’s new superintendent Micahel Burke states that he’s done as much as he legally can in terms of mask mandates in schools.
Superintendent Burke has also stated to WPTV that the Covid-19 situation is manageable in schools and that he wants to see what board members have to say about the opt-out option. The superintendent wants to hear the opinion of other members before making a decision on opting out provisions.
Meanwhile, the school district of Palm Beach County states that there have been 704 confirmed Covid-19 cases since Aug. 10. Since Aug. 17, 3,055 students have been asked to stay home because of possible exposure to the virus and around 10,000 of the 167,000 students enrolled in Palm Beach County schools prefer not to wear face masks in school.
Superintendent Burke states that the situation is manageable and that he held an emergency meeting with school principals on Aug. 17 to address some logistics.
“There are some nuances to work through, particularly with vaccinated students. If students are vaccinated with no symptoms, we’re able to get them right back into class. So that’s a good incentive for our families to consider,” says Burke.
The superintendent also states that staffing is an uprising issue. Superintendent Burke states that the school district is losing many bus drivers and teachers to quarantines and Covid-19 cases.
However, the Palm Beach County School Board is scheduled to have a meeting today at 5 p.m. As reported by WPTV, this will be the first board meeting since classes resumed on Aug. 10.
The topic of face masks is expected to be popular during the meeting and some parents plan to speak and rally against the mask mandate in tonight’s meeting.
During tonight’s, the school board is expecting to approve certain policies. The policies will cover Covid-19 protocols for students and employees. Those policies can be found here.