The Lake County School Board will meet next week to vote on Superintendent Diane Kornegay’s proposal that would require students and staff at schools with the highest percentage of positive COVID-19 cases to wear masks until the number of cases drops. Parents who do not want their children to wear a mask would be allowed to opt out.
The proposal was presented to the board in a special meeting on Sept. 2, but the board decided to take no action. They opted instead to schedule another special meeting the following week and clearly announce to the public that a vote would be taken. To accommodate more people in attendance, the board preferred an evening meeting at the Lake County Administration Building, which has a larger meeting space than the district office. But the building has no evening availability next week.
The meeting will be held at 9:30 am on Thursday, Sept. 9, in Commission Chambers at the Lake County Administration Building, 315 W. Main Street in Tavares.
Public input will be accepted in person and online via Zoom. A link will be shared with the public next week. Each speaker will be given 3 minutes to address the board. Because the public has had multiple opportunities to offer input on this issue, the total amount of time for public input at the Sept. 9 meeting will be limited to 30 minutes, in accordance with board policy,
The board will be considering what Kornegay has called “a risk-based, data-driven system that allows for a targeted rather than a sweeping approach” to help reduce the spread of the virus in schools and the growing number of students being sent home for quarantines because of exposure.
Under the new policy, staff would review the percentage of enrolled students at each school who test positive over a two-week period. Any school where fewer than 3 percent of students test positive would be categorized as “Green.” The district would continue to encourage students and staff at these schools to wear a mask and follow all other precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Schools, where 3 to 4.9 percent of students test positive, would be identified as “Yellow.” Cases in these schools would be closely monitored, cleaning protocols would be increased and the district would continue to strongly encourage masks.
Schools, where 5 percent or more of the students test positive, would be classified as “Red.” Students, parents, and staff would be notified, and masks would be required until the percentage drops below 5 and is maintained for 14 calendar days.
Lake schools in the “Red” zone based on data from Aug. 16-27 are:
- Treadway Elementary — 8.27%
- Seminole Springs Elementary – 6.00%
- Umatilla Elementary – 6.88%
- Eustis Middle – 6.83%
- Mount Dora Middle – 6.41%
- Umatilla Middle – 7.01%
- Umatilla High – 5.70%
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order prohibiting school districts from implementing mask requirements without allowing parents to opt-out remains the law, despite a judge on Thursday filing a final written order that ruled the governor’s order to be unconstitutional. The state immediately appealed and the judge’s order automatically stayed. Board members have voted by majority to follow the law, so Kornegay’s proposal would allow parents in the “Red” zone to opt-out of the mask requirement.
Should the law change and Kornegay’s proposal is approved as submitted, masks would be required in “Red” schools for all students and staff except those who present a medical exemption. Under this scenario, parents who want to opt-out but could not obtain a medical exemption could choose to allow their children to temporarily learn from home without being marked absent. They would complete assignments through Google Classroom with the help of teachers from the district’s Lake Assist after-hours student support program until the percentage of students testing positive at their school drops below 5 percent and the mask requirement is lifted.
