Officials with Miami-Dade County Public Schools held a virtual meeting Monday to discuss their plans for keeping schools open amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and other school board officials met with health experts to discuss their plans for the rest of the school year.
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Carvalho and the experts spoke about the risks associated with having kids in schools.
"There is a balance between what's good and right for kids, side by side with possible associated risks," Carvalho said. "Because children who stay home, that's a risky proposition, kids who miss out on education, that's a risky proposition."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that schools will be required to remain open for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year, but said schools will continue to offer online classes for families who have chosen not to physically return.
Despite a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the state, DeSantis said there was nothing to show that closing schools could help mitigate the spread of the virus.
"Closing schools due to coronavirus is probably the biggest public health blunder in modern American history,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “People who advocate closing schools for virus mitigation are effectively today’s flat-earthers."
Miami-Dade has been the state's hardest-hit county by coronavirus, with more than 243,000 cases as of Sunday, about 23% of the state's total. More than 3,900 virus-related deaths have been reported in the county.
