TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Thursday was the second day of a hearing in which the state teachers union is asking a judge to stop schools from opening.
Hillsborough County special education teacher Lindsey Arthur was called by the state. She testified that just 10 of her 40 special education students participated when the state went virtual in March.
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“They need to be with their teacher if they can, with their friends, to grown and to learn,” Arthur said.
Jennifer Tribble is a working mother of rising third and fourth graders.
“If I ever failed at anything, it’s this,” Tribble said,
She said her children have changed dramatically with distance learning.
“I had two very active kids who never shut down, never stopped playing,” Tribble said. “And now they are so lazy.”
Laura Pope, the mother of a 16-year-old who is autistic, told the court her son doesn’t understand distance learning.
“We put the iPad in front of him and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to start doing school work.’ And immediately the reaction of anxiety,” Pope said. “And then the iPad goes across the room.”
The state and the union lawyers spent a lot of time arguing over whether a 5% positivity rate was required before schools could open.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t recommend it, but that is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A Stanford medical economist called by the state spent more than three hours testifying.
He cited an Icelandic study showing adults are at low risk of being infected by children.
“They found not one instance of a child passing the disease onto an adult in that study,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharaya.
But the study only covered children ages 10 and under.
The judge isn’t expected to rule on the injunction seeking to keep schools closed until next week when more than a dozen districts begin classes.
Closing arguments will take place at noon Friday.