Broward School District headquarters evacuates for COVID-19

South Florida Sun Sentinel | By Scott Travis | August 5, 2020

The Broward school district is evacuating its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale for the second Wednesday in a row due to a COVID-19 case.

Juan Ruperez, manager for administrative support, alerted staff at the K.C. Wright administrative building about 12:30 p.m. that an employee in the building had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

“Disinfecting is scheduled to be completed today and all staff must leave the building by 2 p.m.,” he wrote. “Staff on site may choose to leave the building now and continue to work remotely.”

He said notification will be sent out once the building has been disinfected.

A similar message instructing employees to evacuate was sent July 29 due to another COVID-19 case.

The COVID-19 evacuations come during a time of increasing anxiety in the district about the virus. As of July 22, the Broward School district had 210 reported cases at 138 schools and work locations.

The school year is starting out virtually only on Aug. 19. Superintendent Robert Runcie had planned to bring a few special needs students back, but he postponed that plan after hearing concerns from teachers.

K.C. Wright is the site of School Board meetings. Several public speakers have complained in recent weeks that although School Board members are attending remotely from their homes, anyone who wants to make live public comments is required to go to the building to speak into a camera.

The speakers have asked if they could instead attend the meeting virtually, something district administrators have thus far rejected. Instead, speakers were told they could email their comments and a staff member would read them.