Among the 13 were four teachers, a security monitor, a cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers, said Dade’s joint teacher president Karla Hernandez-Mats. Not all were vaccinated.
“These were educators and extraordinary people, and their loss is noticeable throughout the community,” Hernandez-Mats said.
The school district’s Covid-19 control panel tracks cases, but not deaths. A spokesman told CNN that they were aware of the 13 deaths anecdotally and through family members who reported them.
“The loss of some of our employees is always profound, as every member of that organization is considered a part of the Miami-Dade County public school family,” the district said in a statement. “We extend our hearts and prayers to the loved ones of those whose lives have recently been lost.”
According to the district board, 147 students and 186 employees have tested positive on Covid-19 since Aug. 13, when the board began tracking cases for the school year.
School began in Miami-Dade on August 23rd.
I hope the emerging vaccination site opens
To honor those the district lost, Hernandez-Mats on Tuesday helped coordinate an emerging vaccination site for Miami-Dade employees. Within hours of the event, 40 people had come to receive their first shot, he said. While that number may not seem big, he said it gives him hope.
“All this misinformation is creating a lot of fear and it’s a poorly served community,” Hernandez-Mats said. “We looked at the data we got from the health department here in the county, and basically what it told us was that 30% of the African American community is vaccinated, and that’s well below our averages here.”
The 13 employees who died were African Americans, she said.
The emerging site will operate a second time in a few weeks to give the second dose of the vaccine.
“We’re really hopeful and we’re happy,” he said.
The district wants to encourage people to get vaccinated
The Miami-Dade School District will present an issue to the school board this week “requesting a one-time $ 275 scholarship from any full-time, permanent part-time employee who provides full-fledged immunization evidence,” a said district spokesman said.
The district also said 85% of its teachers have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to a survey by the United Teachers of Dade.
Correction: An earlier version of this story poorly described the number of teachers who have died. Four have died from Covid-19.