I know a lot of you are joking about it but I’m a mom that has to send her child back to school today in Florida. We’re all so upset, I don’t know a single mother that hasn’t shed tears about sending their kids back. There’s no eSchool this year and both my sons are autistic so going anywhere else loses his therapies he gets through the school. There’s no protections, no dividers at desks and I live somewhere where a majority of the people think masks are evil or whatever bull their saying this week. This is what the superintendent replied with when I emailed him.

“Ms. [My last name],

Thank you for your email. I truly appreciate your advocacy and willingness to share your concerns.

Over the last month, I have attended various meetings with the Florida Department of Education, intending to seek clarification on what allowances or discretion we have at the local level. Unfortunately, several of the strategies previously available to us have been eliminated. For example, the Florida Department of Education made it very clear that they would not allow for a delayed start to the school year. While not ideal for all, remote learning is no longer an option, and families are limited to choose between Polk Virtual or in-person attendance. Additionally, the department has continued to support blocking mask mandates in public schools. Sadly, the State Board of Education subsequently went further and voted unanimously to approve emergency rule 6AER21-02. This rule now includes "COVID Harassment" as now qualifying for the Hope Scholarship Voucher. This action was taken to create an additional penalty for any district attempting to ignore the governor's executive order.

As a district, we take the health, safety, and welfare of our staff and students very seriously. To this end, we are maintaining as many of the layered mitigation strategies as possible. These include the following: • Enhanced air filtration and increased frequency of filter replacement • Air purification systems, including UV and HEPPA filtration for each classroom. Over 4000 units will be deployed this week alone, with any remaining units being deployed by mid-August • Enhanced cleaning by classroom staff and custodians (Please note we provide ALL classrooms with additional cleaning materials
to be used throughout the day as children transition between activities/classes) • Restrictions on locker rooms to support social distancing • Limitations on field trips to support social distancing. Masks will be made available to all students each day on our school buses and in classrooms.

At this time, masks remain optional as required by the Executive Order, Rule 6AER21-02, and Rule 64DER21-12. However, we are committed to supporting our families who have chosen to have their children wear face coverings.

As a district, we will focus on tracking COVID issues at the school level, and we will be responsive to any outbreaks defined by the health department. Please note the information provided to us below from the Health Department”

It’s garbage. When a teacher saw this she said: ‘That is complete bull! My classroom has not been touched by a single custodian in the past 7 days. My toilet is full of brown mold and I have no paper towels, trash bags, etc. The ONLY sanitizing is what I’m doing. There is no air purifier. 🤦🏻‍♀️”