NAACP Groups Join FL Lawsuit Over Opening Brick-And-Mortar Schools

From the Florida Phoenix:

By Danielle J. Brown
August 18, 2020

Two civil rights organizations — the NAACP and the NAACP – Florida State Conference — have joined the Florida Education Association and other plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit against reopening brick-and-mortar schools during the pandemic.

The lawsuit challenges a controversial emergency order signed by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, which mandates that all brick-and-mortar public schools be open amid the COVID-19 crisis. But the FEA and other critics say not all schools are considered safe enough to open.

Meanwhile, families do have options in allowing instruction through online learning while the lawsuit continues.

Some districts opened their doors last week and already experienced positive COVID-19 cases in their schools.

“The reckless endangerment of our children across Florida is wholly unacceptable and irresponsible,” said Adora Obi Nweze, president of the NAACP Florida State Conference, in a written statement from an FEA press release.

“We must send a message to Gov. (Ron) DeSantis that we will not allow children, families and communities to be unnecessarily exposed to COVID-19. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure the wellbeing of our future generations.”

DeSantis, Corcoran and other officials are defendants in the case.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, reports that “there is increasing evidence that some racial and ethnic minority groups are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19.”

The CDC’s website also states that “long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put many people from racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19.”

A court document, detailing the inclusion of the NAACP and the NAACP-FL as plaintiffs, says that the two non-profit, non-partisan organizations join the lawsuit on “behalf of their members who are adversely, and disproportionately, affected by the State Defendants’ mandate to reopen all brick-and-mortar schools in August.”

FEA president Fedrick Ingram says NAACP leaders “fully understand the urgency of this situation, where an administration is making political choices that will have life and death consequences,” according to an FEA press release. “Those consequences will fall particularly hard on communities of color.”

Both sides are in a court-ordered mediation. If they can’t come to an agreement throughout Tuesday, court hearings will continue Wednesday morning.

This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.