Board Members, Parents Discount Academy of Pediatrics Position On COVID and Schools

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — The meeting is still ongoing (as of 4 p.m. Wednesday), but there is a theme shared by some of the Palm Beach County School Board members and parents who submitted comments via phone message prior to the meeting. The Academy of Pediatrics stance that students should be in school should NOT apply to Palm Beach County where COVID-19 numbers continue to skyrocket.

Parent after parent and several board members agreed that “in school” is always better than “distance school,” but suggested that the Academy of Pediatrics statement is based on a community being in a much better situation than Palm Beach County when it comes to COVID-19 control.

On another topic, School Board President Frank Barbieri also pointed to a lack of guidance from Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education concerning the funding consequences of whatever decision the Palm Beach County School District makes. He questioned whether DeSantis — who has inexplicably called for all schools to reopen in full — will withhold funding from the region if the Palm Beach County School District decides the best move is a partial opening or distance learning only.

…Developing…