BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard Federation of Teachers has been very vocal about the issue of letting the school district make the best decisions for students and faculty. They believe it should be up to the school district to decide whether or not to send kids to school and not the state’s decision.
What You Need To Know
The federation issued a public records request and their finding were concerning, from August 7 and 20, in just 13 days there were 15 positive COVID cases. Twelve schools were affected and more could be next.
A Leon County judge sided with the Florida Education Association as they sued the state to block an order requiring schools to open five days a week for in-person learning. Leon County Judge Charles Dodson's ruling, which lifts the automatic stay, deems the state’s order to require the reopening of schools unconstitutional.
Because of the Leon County judge Charles Dodson's ruling, which lifted the automatic stay, which deemed what Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran did was a violation of local school boards constitutional authority to run their own school system.
Now the power goes back to each separate district to make the best decision for their teachers and students. The Florida Education Association Vice President Andrew Spar explained why the moved forward with a lawsuit.
“The commissioner and the governor in the state of Florida did not take the health and safety of students and people who work in our schools into account when issuing that order. The judge’s ruling did not in any way mandate that schools closed, that’s not what we sued over. What we sued over is the decision to open or closed schools and classrooms should be left to the school board and the educators in that community,” he adds.
Thursday's court order states that "potential irreparable injury will be suffered by hundreds of thousands of school children, many teachers, and the community at large if the temporary injunction order is stayed"
In a statement from the Brevard Federation of Teachers, it stated that although nothing can replace the student-teacher in person learning experience. However, the state should not put money before students.
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