The Laker/Lutz News

Charles Dodson

Ringing in the 2020-2021 school year

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Students streamed back to Pasco County school campuses last week to begin the 2020-2021 school year, while Hillsborough County students headed to that district’s campuses this week.

The beginning of a new school year often is steeped in tradition, but this year is a year of new routines — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students are arriving on campuses wearing masks, and teachers standing near open classroom doors to greet them are wearing masks, too.

Ten-year-old Veronika Patterson walks with her family to Bexley Elementary School. She’s accompanied by her mother, Melissa, her father, Mike, and her little sister, Izzy. (Randy Underhill)

Lunch tables have been moved outdoors, to reduce crowding in cafeterias and to accommodate outside classes.

Signs remind people to keep their distance, and bottles of hand sanitizer are within easy reach to encourage everyone to keep their hands clean.

And, there are protocols.

Lots of protocols.

They spell out what schools should do when there’s a confirmed case of COVID-19 and what to do when one is suspected.

In Pasco County, a partnership has been forged between the school district and the Florida Department of Health’s Pasco office.

Health department staff members are working in two portables on school district property, so they can respond quickly to COVID-19 cases.

The district also has spent substantial money, time and energy to prepare campuses for the arrival of students and staff; and, it has ramped up cleaning schedules to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Hillsborough County school district also has increased cleaning efforts, to reduce potential spread of the virus.

Both districts also are using special care to disinfect school buses.

Pasco County Schools activated its dashboard last week, and as of 11:30 p.m. Aug. 28, the district had reported three student cases, one each at Fivay High School, Gulf High School and Moon Lake Elementary; and one employee case, at Lake Myrtle Elementary. (For more recent information, visit Pasco.k12.fl.us/news.

Hillsborough superintendent Addison Davis said that the district also will have a dashboard to keep the public informed.

The district just opened campus, on Aug. 31, so it was still too early to tell what kind of impact in-school classes would have, when The Laker/Lutz News went to press

Ray Gadd, deputy superintendent of Pasco County Schools, an educational professional for decades said: “This is definitely my first year like this.

“I think we’re going to have a great first day,” Gadd said, as he showed off Cypress Creek Middle School, on its inaugural opening day for students.

“I think our schools are well-prepared, and we’re looking forward to getting started and making the best of it,” Gadd said. But, he added, “I’d be lying, if I didn’t say I wasn’t worried about Day 2, Day 3.”

There were complaints about buses and technology on the Pasco school district’s Facebook page, but overall the district seemed to be off to a relatively smooth start.

Face-to-face instruction began this week in the Hillsborough school district, after a week of online only.

Parents line up in both directions, to drop their kids off on the first day of school at Pine View Middle School, 5334 Parkway Blvd.

Based on social media chatter from last week, it looks like there were some complaints about problems with technology.

This week offers the first real test of the district’s preparations, as it welcomes the arrival of students and staff.

Hillsborough plans to work closely with its medical partners at the University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital, the superintendent said, during a recent school board meeting.

Like Pasco, Hillsborough has adopted numerous protocols intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to respond to known or suspected cases that arise.

Both Hillsborough and Pasco delayed their initial opening from Aug. 10, until Aug. 24.

Pasco chose to offer all three of its educational options on Aug. 24.

Hillsborough’s reopening plan shifted.

Initially, the school board adopted the superintendent’s plan to offer three learning options, starting on Aug. 24.

Then, after listening to a panel of medical experts, the board voted on Aug. 6 to delay implementation of Davis’ already state-approved plan, and instead offer online learning only for the first four weeks of school.

State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran reacted to that plan by telling the district that it had to justify any closing on a school-by-school, grade-by-grade and classroom-by-classroom basis, or jeopardize state funding.

Davis went to Tallahassee, in an attempt to find a compromise. The state rejected his proposals and, ultimately, the district opted to open online for one week and then to offer all three options, including brick-and-mortar instruction, at all of its schools beginning Aug. 31.

But then, Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson ruled on a lawsuit brought against the state by the Florida Education Association, which was consolidated with other lawsuits brought against the state.

Dodson agreed with FEA’s contention that the state’s action — to require districts to open all brick-and-mortar schools by Aug. 31, was unconstitutional. Dodson said local school boards should have the power to make that decision.

The state appealed Dodson’s ruling, which automatically stayed his injunction, unless he decided to lift it. Dodson did lift it, essentially giving decision-making authority back to local school boards.

That decision prompted an emergency meeting of the Hillsborough County School Board on Aug. 28. Board members voted at that meeting to rescind their previous decision to open online only for four weeks, and instead to proceed with Davis’ most recent plan.

Meanwhile, the case between the FEA and the state continues on, and another lawsuit, filed by the United School Employees of Pasco, is pending.

Published September 02, 2020

School begins in Pasco and Hillsborough counties

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Students headed back to classrooms in Pasco County this week and began learning online for the first week of classes in Hillsborough County — while the impact of a temporary injunction and from a pending legal action are not yet clear.

In response to lawsuits filed by the Florida Education Association and individual plaintiffs, the Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson granted a motion for a temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s executive order.

“The order is unconstitutional to the extent it arbitrarily disregards safety, denies local school boards decision making with respect to opening brick and mortar schools, and conditions funding on an approved reopening plan with a start date in August,” the judge’s order says.

It remains to be seen how the decision will play out in Pasco County, where brick-and-mortar schools have reopened, and in Hillsborough, where they are scheduled to do so on Aug. 31.

In their closing arguments on Aug. 21, lawyers for the Florida Education Association, as well as for individual plaintiffs, argued that the  state’s Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s  Emergency Order 6 was “arbitrary and capricious” and, therefore, unconstitutional.

The order required school districts to submit reopening plans, which included opening every brick-and-mortar school for five days a week, with the school year starting by the end of August.

Kendall B. Coffey, an attorney representing the teachers union, said the state’s order “completely ignored safety. We all agree that a safe education is a paramount duty under the Florida Constitution.”

The state used “financial bullying” to coerce districts to comply with the order, Coffey said.

He noted what happened in Hillsborough County.

The board approved a reopening plan, which the state subsequently approved. Then, the board heard from a panel of medical experts, who advised against reopening classrooms, until COVID-19 positivity cases declined.

The board then voted to open online only for the first four weeks, before activating the previously approved plan.

The state rejected Hillsborough’s decision.

A letter from Corcoran told the district it would need to submit another plan, which justified any proposed closure, on a school-by-school, grade-by-grade and classroom-by-classroom basis.

The district ultimately agreed with state officials to open the school year online only for one week and then reopen brick-and-mortar schools.

But, that decision came after financial pressure from the state, Coffey said. “We know that Hillsborough was threatened with losing $200 million.”

The attorney said it would serve the public interest to allow local school districts to determine when it safe to return to school, without risk of financial penalty.

Attorney David Wells and Nathan Hill, representing the defendants, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Corcoran, said the state was acting under its authority to supervise the state’s 67 school districts.

They said the emergency order considers a range of student needs.

“What are the dangers of not going back to school?” Wells asked. “What happens when children have to learn from home?”

Besides offering the educational benefits of face-to-face instruction, schools provide a wide range of other services for students, Wells said. Schools ensure students have access to meals,  provide services for special needs students and offer an opportunity for intervention when students need protection in abusive homes, or require mental health services.

Remote learning, by contrast, raises issues over whether families have enough digital devices to meet individual student needs, and whether households have internet access, he said.

Both Wells and Hill objected to any attempt to have the court rewrite Corcoran’s order.

“If the governor and the department of education are neutered and left helpless to carry out their constitutional obligations, then the unions will have their way. The schools will not open,” Wells said.

Attorney says key issue is safety for students, staff
Attorney Billy Wieland represented some individual teachers challenging the state’s action.

He told the judge that the issue boils down to this: ‘If we send children and teachers back into the classroom for live, face-to-face instruction — are they going to be safe and secure? We believe you are in the best position to prevent avoidable death.”

But Hill, representing the state, countered: “It is not for this court to second-guess the policy decisions of the executive branch. What they (opposing attorneys) want the court to do, really, is to write a new emergency order. And, that is simply not something the court has the power to do in this situation.”

During closing argument, the judge asked Wells: “Under the emergency order, what choice did the districts have, but to submit a plan in accordance with the emergency order?”

Wells replied: “It’s very clear on Page 6 (of the emergency order), you don’t have to submit a plan.”

The judge responded: “Right, but you lose a lot of funding if you don’t do that.”

Wells acknowledged: “There’s no question about that. I’m not going to dance around it. That’s absolutely right.”

The judge also wanted to know: “To what extent does medical or scientific information play a part in Executive (Emergency) Order 6? It says you’ve got to open.”

Wells said the state had to consider: “The risks I have if I move forward are X. The risks that I have if I don’t open school are Y. How do I make the balance?”

The judge also wanted to know what happens to teachers who will be forced to return because the number of students who want face-to-face instruction.

Hill told the judge: “There is a grievance procedure. They have an adequate remedy of law, under their contracts.”

Meanwhile, another court case is pending. The United School Employees of Pasco has requested an expedited case. No additional information was available on that case, as the afternoon of Aug. 24.

Published August 26, 2020