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There is a possibility that public schools in Florida could reopen next month, for at least a couple of weeks amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
During a presser on Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he is hopeful for the reopening, but would have to “look at the evidence and make a decision.”
The Hill reports schools in the state have been closed since March to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“If it’s safe, we want kids to be in school. Even if it’s for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that,” DeSantis continued.
According to the report, the Republican governor said he is basing the decision on the lack of coronavirus-related deaths of any persons in the U.S. under the age of 25.
“This particular pandemic is one where, I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25. For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids,” DeSantis said.
He argued this characteristic of the pandemic could create an opportunity for reopening the education system.
“We lose in Florida between five and 10 kids a year for the flu. This one [the coronavirus], for whatever reason, much more dangerous if you’re 65 and plus than the flu, no doubt about that. If you’re younger, it just hasn’t had an impact, so that should factor into how we’re viewing this. I think the data on that has been 100 percent consistent,” he said. “I’ve not seen any deviation on that.”
DeSantis provided a caveat in a potential reopening, as some areas could be treated differently.
“It may be that not every county is going to be treated the same in all this,” DeSantis said.
According to the Hill, the CDC has reported casualties under the age of 25:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four people between the ages of 15 and 24 and one person younger than 5 has died from the virus.
DeSantis said that Florida’s Department of Education has been proactive in trying to continue the education of the state’s kids during the closing, purchasing roughly 32,000 laptops for rural school districts that were unable to give their students the needed technology for virtual education.
He added that the Florida Virtual School has been offering schools free access to 100 online classes and has taken steps to be able to serve millions more schoolchildren if necessary.
DeSantis also noted that a possible reopening would be approached in two-week increments and that some districts might need to stay closed depending on if they have active virus concerns or not.
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