Today’s entry: How can the PBC Super blame unmasked kids for spreading the virus at school when the year just started. Doesn’t it take days for the virus to become detectable?
Bottom Line: Everything about Palm Beach County’s new School Superintendent, Michael Burke’s, assertions to MSNBC last week were irresponsible. None more so than the point which you’re specifically asking about. He stated that kids which aren’t wearing masks are spreading the virus. To begin with, he made that statement without any facts in hand as there was and is no data available which contrasts the students who have had their parents opt out of masking their kids with those who’ve tested positive with COVID-19.
Burke’s claims were baseless and reckless. He can’t back up his assertions. Additionally, only 6,394 students, out of over 166,000 opted out of masks at the time he made the statement. The mask rate in Palm Beach County stood at over 96% during the first week of school. Through the first week, 191 students and 40 employees tested positive.
Let’s put this in perspective, just 0.001% of Palm Beach County’s public-school students tested positive for COVID-19 last week. The top day for diagnosis was the first day of school. To the point of your question, it’s not scientifically possible for those cases to have been spread and detected instantly. It’s evident, in addition to being scientifically necessary, for the recorded cases to have been students who already had COVID-19 coming to school with it as opposed to catching it at school.
According to the CDC, the minimum incubation period for COVID-19 is 48 hours, and the average length to show symptoms is five days. Simply put, every person who tested positive in Palm Beach County’s schools last week contracted the virus prior to having attended school. These realities, while instructive, are also alarming.
The mask agenda is so great in districts like Broward and Palm Beach County that you have officials willing to make false claims and openly break the law. What does it say when the Superintendent in Palm Beach County openly lies to parents to advance his cause? Especially with something as important and concerning to parents as this topic. What kind of message is sent to students of Broward's schools when the School District openly breaks the law? The kids are watching and pick up on more than we often realize. What we have is an instant failure of leadership to consider the facts, follow the law, and clearly communicate the truth.
That failure fails to set an appropriate example for the children who are supposed to be educated in these schools. It’s my hope that parents will take advantage of the opportunity to utilize the Hope Scholarship and get out of these public schools. Not only could you benefit from school choice, but it’d lead to less revenue to the school districts as well as headcount determines much of the funding in public school districts.
Incidentally, parents who are looking to apply in Palm Beach County consider this. For those who opted out of masks. Your child hasn’t just been harassed; they’ve been slandered by the Superintendent as they were ubiquitously blamed for spreading COVID-19. I’d think that’d be sufficient on an application to the state.
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Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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