A private elementary school in Miami is under investigation by the Florida Department of Education for telling parents to keep their children home for 30 days after they get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The department has threatened to pull funding from Centner Academy if the school doesn't meet the department's requirements, reports WPLG Local 10 News.
School officials notified parents last week that they would have to keep their children home for 30 days if they receive the vaccination — or preferably wait until the summer. In a letter to parents, the school says the 30-day period would prevent vaccinated students from transmitting anything to other children.
State health officials say the school's actions promote false claims about Covid vaccines.
“Recently it has come to our attention that your schools may employ attendance policies, which require parents of recently vaccinated students to quarantine their children for unreasonable, unnecessary and unduly burdensome amount of time before returning for in-person instruction,” the Florida Department of Education told the school. “Should our investigation reveal that your schools’ policies fail to comport with these lawful rights and obligations, understand that the action that follows — up to and including revocation of your schools’ scholarship eligibility and funding — will be both swift and decisive."
David Centner, who founded the school with his wife, Leila Centner, in 2019, said they instituted the policy “as a prudent precautionary measure after much thoughtful deliberation.”
He said “several parents” on the school’s parent advisory board raised concerns over how vaccinated kids could affect fellow students and others.
The school's letter to parents is not the first time its Covid vaccine opinions have created headlines.
The Miami Herald reported in April that the school had told teachers and staff who received the Covid-19 vaccine that they could not interact with students and would run the risk of losing their jobs.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 12 and older should get vaccinated, and a vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 may soon become available. Pfizer has announced that clinical tests show its vaccine is 90.7% effective at preventing Covid-19 in children aged five to 11.
