The Miami school district says all schools are ready to reopen this week. Some disagree

On June 10, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told School Board members that Miami-Dade County Public Schools will “absolutely have schools open Aug. 24” while exercising all guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Expect that,” he said.

Carvalho moved up the school reopening timeline to Sept. 30, but hundreds of teachers and parents protested and the board voted on a later mid-October timeline. Deputy superintendent Valtena Brown told medical experts that schools would be “100% ready” by Sept. 25.

The Friday before schools open Monday to welcome 22,000 students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade and students with disabilities who follow a modified schedule as the first wave of a staggered reopening, several parents and teachers contacted the Herald and said schools were still scrambling to be ready.

Carvalho told School Board members on Tuesday that he had concerns about ventilation and air quality at a “handful” of schools, “not because of deficiencies but because of the actual architecture of the school,” where the only solution would be a construction project.

The next day, Carvalho and School Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman sent a letter to the Florida Department of Education that all schools would be ready to reopen, and that the district would not submit any amendments for any schools not ready for in-person learning as required by the state.

A teacher at iPrep Academy, where Carvalho is the principal, said by Friday afternoon that they had not received any hand sanitizer or wipes or masks. They said they asked for another mask while moving furniture around to accommodate 26 students in the classroom.

“The office made me feel uncomfortable as if I were asking for something difficult to get when I thought they had plenty in store,” the teacher said.

A district spokeswoman said the school had given out cloth masks and the teacher was asking for a different type of mask.

The iPrep teacher said teachers were spacing out desks without a measuring stick. They said the school’s one staircase was only meant to be used one way. The elevators are only supposed to fit max two people.

“All these security measures sound great on paper, but you have to look at the context of each school space,” the teacher said. “It’s incredibly scary and frustrating.”

The Herald is not naming teachers out of expressed fears of retaliation. Their identities have been verified.

On Saturday, Carvalho posted photos on Twitter and Instagram of school sites with signage promoting social distancing and hygiene, air filters, socially distant desks and buses with hand sanitizer.

“Spent the day conducting school visits and touring one of our bus facilities,” he wrote. “Air filters have been replaced, front offices are properly equipped, our buses have hand sanitizer and appropriate signage, and our empty classrooms are ready to welcome students back.”

Not every school will have a nurse. The district said “medically trained staff” like emergency medical technicians, paramedics and firefighters will be deployed to cover schools. The district purchased thermometers for students to take home, but only the students who begin in-person learning Monday will receive them the following week. The rest of the students are expected to receive thermometers in the coming weeks.

Some students who return to the school will receive in-person learning to similar to how they remember it, but others will not. Some students will be learning on a computer in the classroom, similar to how they were learning at home.

Yvette Torres Casas opted for her son, a sixth grader at Glades Middle School in southwest Miami-Dade who has autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, to return to the classroom. She recently learned that her son and other students are expected to bring to school a laptop, tablet or other electronic device with sufficient battery charge that can last all day to work on Microsoft Teams.

“I don’t want a babysitter or to pass the burden to the teachers,” said Torres Casas. “I accepted the risk of sending him back so he could have what he needed. My expectations were a classroom experience with precautions not just a change in scenery.”

The school district said its IT department has “implemented a series of strategies to help mitigate potential connectivity and cybersecurity issues that may arise.”

Medical experts’ concerns

Medical experts who have been advising the school district wrote in opinions, which the district compiled in a document shared with School Board members this week.

“While I hope that Miami-Dade will soon reduce new cases further, as Florida heads into Phase III, it would be prudent to hold some skepticism and prepare for the potential outcome of rising numbers,” wrote Dr. Judy Schaechter, pediatrics chair at UM Jackson Health System. “Given the DOE correspondence sent today, I expect that my opinion on this issue is of far less importance now.”

Nurse practitioner Linda Brown, president and CEO of Xspurt Provider Services, also had concerns.

“I also admonish school board administrators to consider a strategic roll-out of student enrollment based upon special needs, age and development, and grade levels of our students,” she wrote. “I have provided four questionable concerns that I was unable to address at our last meeting and following the school board’s meeting. Please see below and the signed attachment.”

She asked about ventilation, training and educational level of nurses in schools, if 3 feet of spacing is adequate and student-teacher ratios.

City Year Miami, an Americorps program where young adults mentor students in 18 underserved schools in Miami-Dade, said its corps members will not return to schools until they confirm “that City Year’s COVID-19 school health and safety protocols are in place at each of our schools,” wrote spokeswoman Tina Chong in an email.

After this story published, City Year Miami asked for a clarification and followed up with this response, not mentioned in the original statement:

“We are confident in the MDCPS plan and City Year is working with each of our school partners on the best way to integrate our AmeriCorps members back into classrooms as they prepare to welcome students,” Chong wrote. “The students we serve will return to school later in the week and we are planning for our AmeriCorps members to be in service with them. We’re confident that in close, collaborative partnership with MDCPS, we’ll continue supporting students while jointly prioritizing the safety of students, school staff, and our corps members together.”

Satin Fye has two children. Her older son attends Young Men’s Preparatory School and is ready to go back to school Wednesday with a bus assignment and all.

But Fye’s younger son, who has autism and attends Carrie P. Meek/Westview K-8 Center in northwest Miami-Dade, had his learning assignment screwed up. The postcard he received in the mail incorrectly said Fye chose online learning for him, when she opted for both her sons to return to school for in-person learning, especially for her younger son who has an Individualized Education Plan.

She said her son’s father went to the school Thursday to correct the situation, but was told he had to make an appointment.

Fye on Wednesday emailed a list of 26 questions to her School Board member, Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, and her son’s assistant principal. The questions range from from class sizes and social distancing to how her son’s IEP will be supported.

Fye says she has yet to receive a response. She says she’s been making calls on work breaks.

“I’m just so stressed out right now,” she said.

Fye says she’s sending both of her sons to school with portable shields for their desks, 200 sets of gloves and masks that she’s been stockpiling since April.

Fye says she worries about her younger son at Meek/Westview, which she says is overcrowded. “That school was already dirty and it was not up to par.”

Leaks, ventilation and bathroom issues, crowded classrooms

Teacher Gelany Arriete complained for years of a leak in her classroom at Key Biscayne K-8. Only the ceiling tile would be replaced, she said. On Friday, she noticed a green substance on her air vent, and when Arriete raised the concern to her principal, she said she was waved off.

Arriete said her students’ parents have offered to buy air purifiers and even pay for an inspection of the room. She bought her own Clorox wipes and cleaned her own classroom on Friday.

“It is concerning that they are lying and they’re saying schools are ready and they’re not,” Arriete said.

A parent at Dr. Rolando Espinosa K-8 Center in Doral said her child’s teacher has done a fantastic job teaching online and will continue teaching online, but administrators are forcing the teacher to teach from the classroom to be fair to teachers who are teaching in-person.

The parent asked not to be named to protect her child’s teacher. The teacher now has to send her own children into school instead of keeping them learning online, where they are doing well. The parent says she worries about the teacher’s health.

“I am now also worried about my children’s education,” the parent wrote. “If [the teacher] is ill, and cannot teach, who is going to substitute for the online students? It seems absurd to expose her ‘because it’s only fair.’”

Shenandoah Middle brought in single portable toilets outside on the courtyard for students to use. A teacher who snapped a photo of the six toilets told the Herald that the school is overcrowded and to create more space, most bathrooms have been converted for students, leaving faculty and staff to use two bathrooms in the front office.

“I wish the parents knew because I think the parents think it’ll be back to normal and it’s really not,” the teacher said.

They said teachers received cloth masks and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Teachers are expected to clean classrooms in between periods, they said, and make sure students wear masks in the hallway.

“They’ve done everything that they could realistically do for the school,” the teacher said. “Just because that’s the best we can do doesn’t mean that that’s the ideal situation.”

A teacher at Miami Lakes Education Center said staff did not receive disinfectant spray bottles that were promised to disinfect classrooms between periods. On Friday, the teacher noted hardware and Internet connectivity issues.

The teacher said the principal said the school’s HVAC system could not handle the minimum-grade air filters. Many science labs and and computer labs at MLEC do not have windows.

The teacher said they had concerns about class sizes, especially with too few desks to accommodate students who want in-person learning. The teacher said administrators told staff that at least 150 students have switched to sticking with online learning.

Some teachers, including the MLEC teacher, expressed concerns over the pressure of teaching students in-person and online at the same time. “I don’t remember being given the choice,” the teacher said.

“I have many more concerns, but at the risk of writing an e-mail the length of Martin Luther’s ‘95 Theses’, I will stop there,” the teacher wrote. “This will likely be my last year teaching.”

A teacher at Miami Edison Senior High said they felt they had to prioritize teaching students who show up for in-person learning while still having students learning online.

.A veteran teacher with underlying health conditions at North Miami Elementary took a video of the 23 desks spaced out in the small classroom, but student desks block the back door, come up right up to the front of the board and are less than 3 feet away from the teacher’s desk.

The teacher has applied for accommodations through the Americans with Disabilities Act, but while they were given some accommodations for teaching in the classroom, the teacher is still waiting on an appeal to teach from home.

Members of the United Teachers of Dade has been making unannounced visits to schools across the county. They noted more progress on Friday but still found “lots of deficiencies,” said spokeswoman Sonia Diaz.

The union is holding a supply drive for teachers and said they’re in need of antibacterial soap and wipes. They also encourage parents to donate directly to their teachers or send their children to school with their own products.

At Ojus Elementary School in North Miami, the union noted that some classrooms had mold and big water stains on tiles. Union members noted lack of sanitizer and empty soap dispenser. Some windows can’t open for ventilation.

School district spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego gave this written response:

“Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) administrators and school site personnel are following all recommended health and safety protocols to ensure our schoolhouses are secure and welcoming environments where children can thrive under the instruction of our inspirational educators,” she said. “M-DCPS recognizes that the decision to send a child back to school is a personal one that must and should be made by parents and we will continue to offer online learning as a choice for all students. However, we also understand that beyond the academic benefits, in-person schooling provides children the social, emotional and motivational support they need.”

Gonzalez-Diego said the district encourages parents to contact their child’s school with any questions or concerns. The district’s General Support Help Desk will be available Monday at 8 a.m. at 305-995-3000.

“As always,” she said, “M-DCPS remains committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of our students and employees above all else.”

Schools that are prepared

Some schools are doing things right. UTD said Leisure City K-8, where the majority of students opted to for online learning, has been making its teachers feel comfortable. The union said only one or two teachers opted to teach virtually from home.

At Jose Marti Mast 6-12 Academy, teacher Jen Kaelin said the school worked hard all summer to prepare. She said all classrooms have seats 6 feet apart, the head custodian purchased plexiglass for the cafeteria workers to add extra layers of protection, there is plenty of signage, and administrators purchased extra hand sanitizer and signs out of the school’s budget.

“The school is taking it very seriously,” Kaelin said. “[We] want to make sure parents know.”

Ashley Vangates, a Miami-Dade teacher of the year finalist who teaches at Carver Elementary, said the school has gone the extra mile to be ready on Monday.

“Carver is definitely pulling out all of the stops to make sure reopening is as smooth.. as can be during a pandemic!” she wrote.

Michelle Loretta, a parent of a third grader at Ada Merritt K-8 in East Little Havana, said she felt felt the school was doing the best it could. She said she felt secure, especially after hearing about required mask use, which school administrators emphasized.

“I’ve been worried... but I felt really good about the protocol after the meeting today,” she said. “And it was also really great to see teachers positive and excited.”

Coral Reef Senior High teacher Stephanie Woolley-Larrea said at her school, each student will be given five masks and administrators will walk around with extras for those in need. Students will be distant at lunch and in the restroom, and sanitizer is everywhere.

Woolley-Larrea said she’s mostly nervous that someone won’t comply, like a parent sending their sick child to school or that students will minimize symptoms so they won’t miss school. “The system only works if we all do our part.”

“I think the schools are doing as much as they can,” she said. “But ultimately, a school is only as good as the people within it.”