ORLANDO, Fla. —  Jorge Perez is a father of two who works most of the day and long hours as a handy man. Taking time off of work to stay at home with his two boys, if they were sent home school to quarantine, could be costly to his household.

“If we have our kids staying at home, how we going to keep making money and paying our bills?" Perez asked. "Our bills aren’t going to pay themselves.”

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Raul Pino: At least 90% of Orange County students who are quarantined for COVID exposure don't get sick

  • Pino says the district mask mandate makes him more comfortable with optional quarantining

  • Orange County also stopping testing for COVID in schools

Gov. Ron DeSantis last week said that nearly 98% of students sent home to quarantine do not test positive for the coronavirus. Dr. Raul Pino said he doesn’t think the rate is that high in the county, but agrees with the governor about the topic.

“He’s right," Dr. Pino said. "In our county, I cannot talk for the state, but in our county the number of people, the number of children, that we send in to quarantine that convert into a positive is very low.”

But, as Pino points out, Orange County Public Schools also has a mask mandate.

"The schools here in Orange County have a mask mandate," he said. "And with that I feel more comfortable having no quarantines at this point if the parents choose to do that."

Dawn Kalfon-Lapointe also has two children younger than 11. One is in school, but both are not yet eligible for a coronavirus vaccine.

Making quarantining optional if a student is not showing symptoms is a decision Kalfon-Lapointe is ready to make.

“I would want her to quarantine at home," Kalfon-Lapointe said while playing on a playground with her youngest daughter. "Just if she had immediate exposure to the child.”

Which has proven to be a good situation for Kalfon-Lapointe.

“We were quarantined for one week earlier this year, and fortunately no one was sick,” the mother of two said.

Perez also said if he was faced with the decision this year, it would be an easy one for him.

“Will send my kid to school if they are still feeling good," he said. "If they don’t have the symptoms, I will keep sending them to school.”

The two parents offered different answers, but each can be made by choice.​

The mask mandate that Pino said makes him comfortable with optional quarantining is also under fire by DeSantis. The Florida Department of Education is looking into the district's policy that requires a face covering unless there is a doctor's note. 

Pino also reports that Florida DOH is pausing all COVID-19 testing sights located on OCPS campuses.

He says reasons are reduced cases the county is seeing, fewer people getting tested, and the governor’s new quarantining option for families.