Supported by business leaders, Gov. DeSantis and Commissioner Corcoran intend to open public schools at any human price with no apparent state plan dedicated to paying for the cost of the physical and emotional safety for families, teachers or students. The plan prioritizes funding more testing, new Civics curriculum and private school vouchers over the crisis in health and safety created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan leaves COVID school safety up to individual superintendents, neglecting to address more than a billion in additional costs statewide.
A cost analysis from the American Association of School Administrators (superintendents) and the Association of School Business Officials International shows that in some cases school districts can expect to spend an additional $490 per student in order to cover costs associated with purchasing hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and other cleaning supplies, gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment, hiring additional custodial staff and nurses, and more.
This means that Florida district costs for COVID-19 safety could reach $1.5 Billion dollars per year for roughly THREE MILLION people including staff and students – more than double the $693M in the CARES Act for Florida schools. Florida’s number one priority must be safe, healthy & clean schools. Relief funds should not be used to pay for more testing, Civics curriculum or private school vouchers.
Sadly, Reopening Florida’s Schools and the CARES Act, announced by Governor DeSantis focuses on spending $241M in the Federal dollars allocated to him to measure student academic performance and pre-k assessments/development. In other words, bits of legislation that failed to pass during the 2020 legislative session.
These are found on page 92 of the DeSantis plan:
- $120M to help close the achievement gap related to school closures from the DeSantis GEER FUND
- $45M for private school vouchers and private school “stabilization” diverted from the DeSantis GEER FUND into “Safety Net Reserve Funds”
- $76M to adopt B.E.S.T. reading and civics curriculum from Commissioner Corocran/FLDOE who keeps 10% of the $770M provided for Florida K-12 districts under the CARES Act – districts net $693M
Tell Gov. DeSantis and Commissioner Corcoran school safety should be our top priority. We are concerned about the following:
- Spending $241 Million on more testing, Civics curriculum and private school vouchers will not help keep our students or teachers safe from COVID-19.
- $407M in MSD Safe Schools Allocations was spent by Florida in the three years since Marjorie Stoneman Douglas tragedy. Don’t students and teachers deserve the same concern from the state during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Where will funding come from when schools are required to re-open under costly and necessary COVID-19 safety requirements plus the added expense of blended online learning?
- Be transparent about the effects of COVID-19 on Florida’s 2020-21 budget, including legislated teacher pay raises, so local districts can plan now for next year.
After you send your letters, call and tweet:
Governor Ron DeSantis | Phone: Gov. DeSantis: 850.488.7146 |
Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran | 850-245-0505 | Twitter: @RichardCorcoran
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