UPDATE: Paul Puletti, superintendent advised the board this morning that the Chancellor for the Florida Department of Education has indicated that the Hendry re-opening plan should include a date for brick and mortar opening. The current plan voted by the Hendry School Board did not include a date to open the schools, but only a virtual school opening of August 24. Puletti suggested as first choice modifying the plan to open the brick and mortar school on August 31, while still opening virtually on August 24 or a second choice of starting virtually and brick and mortar on August 31.
Puletti says 10 staff members are out with illness or positive COVID. Jon Basquin has been an advocate for opening brink and mortar and suggested opening August 24, but Puletti said the FDOE indicated that would not be a good idea because of community spread of COVID in Hendry county at the current time.
Puletti answered a question from Basquin regarding why not do temperature checks on children before they enter school buses, Puletti indicating that might result in leaving students on the side of the road and that pediatric physicians do not recommend temperature testing for children.
The motion to begin online school August 24 and brick and mortar August 31 was approved by the board with Basquin dissenting as he did at the last board meeting.
About 600 people watched the virtual online meeting live. There are now 1,832 individuals tested positive with the virus, 1 in every 22 Hendry residents.
Hendry Schools Reopening plan as filed with the Florida Department of Education July 31, 2020: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/19861/urlt/Hendry-ReopenPlan.pdf
Click the link below to access the meeting video:
(The YouTube audio for the 72 minute meeting is very poor with echoing, weak audio, and is hard to hear, particularly board member Jon Basquin, most likely because no one used a headphone to eliminate feedback echoes and participants were too far from microphones.)
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