Florida education commissioner wants Miami district to reopen sooner
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran is calling for the Miami-Dade County district to fully open its schools by Oct. 5 or seek exemptions on a school-by-school basis.
The Miami Herald reports that Corcoran sent district officials a letter that expressed “grave concerns” about the board’s decision to have a soft and conditional opening of schools on Oct. 14 and to open all schools on Oct. 21.
Corcoran says the board’s decision “directly contradicts” the reopening plan the school district submitted to the state.
The school board unanimously voted to delay the district’s timeline of reopening schools in order to ensure employees were prepared and safe. That vote came at the end of a 29-hour School Board meeting that included almost 800 public comments, many from parents and teachers against prematurely reopening schools.
[FROM LAST WEEK: Miami-Dade district pushes back the beginning of in-person classes]
Corcoran wrote that the district’s plan goes against the state’s emergency order to provide face-to-face instruction five days a week to parents who preferred that for their children.
Corcoran says if the Miami-Dade district has determined some schools must stay closed, then it needs to submit an amended plan that makes a case for each school that is seeking an exemption.
At the last board meeting, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho warned that the delayed timeline to open schools could become an issue with the state.
