Superintendent Greene should be fired over her handling of the pandemic

 There is no doubt the state is no friend of public education, and they constantly do all they can to work against it. That being said, Greene is often on board with the state's recklessness, which makes DCPS take a bad situation and make it that much worse. It is way past time for her to go.

Before I continue let me show you what the state constitution says about school boards and superintendents. 

Notice safe is in there.

It says the school board shall control and supervise all free public schools. They are in charge, they have the authority. When they abdicate that responsibility or allow the superintendent to do so, then we all suffer for it.

https://ballotpedia.org/Article_IX,_Florida_Constitution

First I think it is common knowledge by now that Greene did all she could to make sure masks were optional in our schools and it was only after several school board members spoke up, that the policy changed.  

Now let's look at the new contact tracing policy that the district decided to go with at the department of health said they would no longer do ut, notthat they were doing much, to begin with.

Now below is the letter they sent out with my comments in bold?

Team Duval,                                                                    

We are about to share some news with families, and I want you to be informed in case you get questions from parents in your schools or people you know in the community.

The Department of Health notified us this week that they will no longer conduct contact tracing of positive COVID-19 cases in schools.  This means that they will no longer notify families if a student was a close contact of an individual who tested positive for COVID-19.  Therefore, we are going to reestablish our process of sending letters to elementary school families once per week if one or more cases is present in a classroom that week.  Letters will only go out on the first case reported for that week.

Where is the super and board letting people know how reckless and dangerous this is? Their response has been a collective shrug. Shouldn't they be out there on TV and having press conferences imploring the DOH to change their mind? Shouldn't they use their bully pulpit to inform the public? 

Then letters home once per week? Um, what if a second case happens after the first letter went home? Good luck? That makes absolutely zero sense. That Greene thinks it is, is a fireable offense in my mind.

The Department of Health’s action does not change any procedure related to testing, isolation, and case interview of students and employees who contract COVID-19. If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please remain home and notify your supervisor.

 

Information for Symptomatic Employees

Symptomatic employees may return to work with a negative PCR test and improvement of symptoms or clearance from their healthcare provider. If you use a rapid antigen test, such as BinaxNOW, and the results are negative, it must be confirmed with a PCR test or a note from your healthcare provider clearing you to return to work.

If you are symptomatic and would like to be tested through the district, please contact your supervisor. A referral will be placed by your supervisor to the School Health Services Office and a nurse will schedule you for testing at one of the available testing sites. Please do not drive to a testing site without an appointment scheduled. Testing is offered Monday-Friday during normal school hours. If a referral is received on the weekend or holiday, you will be contacted on the next day school resumes.

Um, the pandemic is surging, maybe it's time to expand those hours. If I feel bad after school and can get tested, I may only have to miss a day instead of the two now. Has anybody considered that? Or testing on the weekend? Why is it only teachers and school staff are expected to be all hands on deck?

Information for Employees Positive for COVID-19

If you test positive for COVID-19, please remain home and notify your supervisor. Both rapid antigen tests and PCR tests will be accepted if the employee tests positive. Please provide a copy of your test results to your supervisor, so that information can be reported to the Florida Department of Health.  If you have tested positive using a home test kit, please provide a picture of the test and include your name and date the test was taken. Either the Florida Department of Health or the School Health Services Office will contact you with further guidance.

 

Return to Work Information for Employees Positive for COVID-19

If you test positive for COVID-19, you do not need a negative test to return to work. An employee that tested positive for COVID-19 may end isolation after five days (on day six) since symptoms started or after testing positive for COVID-19 if asymptomatic, if the employee can continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others for an additional five days after the end of your five-day isolation (through day 10) AND the criteria below are met:

 

• If symptomatic, five full days have passed and fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms are resolving (Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation). If fever continues or other symptoms are not resolving after five days of isolation, the employee should contact their health care provider to provide documentation on when the employee can return to work.

 

• If asymptomatic and the employee continues to have no symptoms and 5 days have passed since a positive test for COVID-19.

 

 

Return to School Information for Students Positive for COVID-19 or with Symptoms of COVID-19

The district will continue to follow the state’s emergency rule 64DER21-15. Students experiencing any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or who have received a positive test for COVID-19 shall not attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on school property until:

I have sick kids all the time as do many teachers and not one of them has been sent home or told to stay home.  

• The student receives a negative diagnostic COVID-19 test and is asymptomatic; or
• Ten days have passed since the onset of symptoms or positive test result, the student has had no fever for 24 hours and the student’s other symptoms are improving; or
• The student receives written permission to return to school from a medical doctor licensed under chapter 458, an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 459, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 464.

 Information for Close Contacts to a COVID-19 Positive Case

For staff and student close contacts, we are complying with the Senate Bill SB 2021 2-B: COVID-19 Mandates. The school board or district may not prohibit a student or employee from attending school or school-sponsored activities, prohibit them from being on school property, or subject them to restrictions or disparate treatment, based on an exposure to COVID-19, so long as they remain asymptomatic and have not received a positive test for COVID-19.

 

If an employee or student is a close contact to a COVID-19 case, they do not need to quarantine if they are asymptomatic, regardless of vaccination status.

Nowhere does it say, the district will now take responsibility for contact tracing, something I think one person at every school could be trained to do in an hour or so. No, now families get a letter, maybe and a shrug of the shoulders of the district.  

This is a disaster waiting till happen. End of comments about the letter.

You know I bet the district had known about this for a while too but held onto it for a long weekend news dump. Which is I am right is reprehensible.  

Greene constantly sides with the governor and the governor constantly ignores science and does everything he can ti hurt public schools. We can and should be doing better than both of them.