ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools updated its COVID-19 dashboard overnight which revealed nearly 400 students and teachers tested positive for COVID-19.
The school district reported 381 COVID-19 cases and 484 new student quarantines on Tuesday. It is the highest number of cases the school district reported since it started recording cases more than a year ago.
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The Orange County Teacher’s Association is pointing to the data to plead for a stronger mask mandate.
The teacher’s union said a mandate needs to be made soon.
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Since Aug. 3, when preplanning began for teachers, there have been more than 2,100 recorded cases of COVID-19 in schools.
The teacher’s union said it is far more than it the confirmed number of cases it saw last year.
“This year, in August alone, we had more reported cases in Orange County Public Schools than we did in August, September, October and November of last school year,” said Wendy Doromal, president of the Orange County Teacher’s Association.
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As it stands now, there is a face covering mandate in place district wide for employees and students, but parents can opt out of the requirement with a note.
The teacher’s union said it hopes the school board makes masks mandatory during Tuesday night’s meeting.
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“We’re asking them to follow Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and other large school districts,” Doromal said.
The mask mandate is not on the school board’s agenda. There will likely be a lot of support for both sides of the mask debate outside the school board headquarters on Tuesday night.
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