ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – In response to an order from a judge, Orange County Public Schools released a list Thursday night showing the worksites that have had positive COVID-19 cases during the summer months.
According to that document, embedded at the bottom of this story, 192 school district employees have been diagnosed with the deadly respiratory illness at some point between June 1 and Wednesday.
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Though the employees’ names are redacted as well as their quarantine dates, their worksites are listed. They include numerous schools, custodial services and transportation.
“Of the 4,529 employees working at the time between June 1 through August 19, there were 192 employees who tested positive for COVID-19 at various times during that period. That is a 4.2 percent positivity rate during a two and a half month period,” a district spokeswoman said.
The Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, which fought to get the records released, claims the list provided by OCPS was “incomplete.”
The Ninth Judicial Court ruled Monday that the district can release general information regarding confirmed cases in schools and a total district-wide count without violating any privacy or confidentiality laws.
On Friday, students will return to classrooms for the first time since March, when schools were ordered to shut down to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The state’s largest teachers’ union, Florida Education Association, is suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials with the goal of halting in-person learning at schools until it can be done safely.
Closing arguments in that case are set to take place Friday.
Orange County Public Schools worksites by Adrienne on Scribd