Orange County Public Schools being ‘secretive,’ ‘heavy-handed’ about COVID-19 cases, teacher says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A local teacher said they are concerned Orange County Public Schools is not being transparent about COVID-19 cases.

The teacher said the district is being “secretive” and “heavy-handed.”

The teacher said they chose face-to-face learning for their students because they think it’s best for both the teacher and the student.

The teacher remained anonymous after Eyewitness News confirmed the teacher’s name and school, and that they were on paid leave after testing positive for COVID-19.

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“I feel like OCPS is being very secretive and kind of heavy-handed about how it wants things to be handled when it comes to COVID,” the teacher said.

The teacher is not one of the 54 students and staff that OCPS reports tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 21, the first day of face-to-face instruction. However, they worry that after their experience, the public is not getting information fast enough.

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“In my case, it was at least a week and a half after I reported it to the district that our school finally got on a list. To me that’s not adequate,” the teacher said. “To me, that’s not enough.”

The teacher wants OCPS to be transparent, but also quick.

“If you’re a parent or teacher concerned about information at a certain site, the information is not real time,” they said. “So I believe there should be a daily reporting. Every day, OCPS when they get reports of cases, they should report that day.”

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According to the district, the 34 schools and four work locations with positive COVID-19 cases are:

East River High School

Lakeview Middle School

Piedmont Lake Middle School

Positive Pathways

Spring Lake Elementary School

Bonneville Elementary School

Clay Springs Elementary School

College Park Middle School

John Young Elementary School

Lake Como K-8

Rock Springs Elementary School

Sunset Park Elementary School

Millennia Gardens Elementary School

NorthLake Park Community School

Ocoee Middle School

Southwest Middle School

Discovery Middle School

Evans High School

Riverside Elementary School

Winter Park High School

Apopka Middle School

Horizon West Middle School

Lake Silver Elementary School

Pine Hills Elementary School

Edgewater High School

Oak Ridge High School

Olympia High School

Orlo Vista Elementary School

Sally Ride Elementary School

Shenandoah Elementary School

Innovation Middle School

Meadow Woods Middle School

Robinswood Middle School

University High School

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