Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

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alexalonso
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Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 9th, 2021, 3:54 am

There has been a story circulating that 15 Miami Dade staffers, employees, educators (MSN), teachers (CNN) all died from COVID-19 in 10 days. The source of this story was an unnamed spokesperson for unions in the school district who told local television station NBC 6 in Miami about the employee deaths.

I am suspicious of the headline because of my years of analyzing media stories and learning how inaccurate stories eventually are. Most of us never follow a print media story to the end. I have followed 20 years of 'Los Angeles Times' stories on crimes and examined how often the headlines or the actual stories were wrong. And this story has many of the elements of a inaccurate story.

1. there are only about 4 victims identified far short of the 15, and even though there are some privacy issues that prevent hospital of government officials from revealing identities, because of social media, victims names gets posted by family and friends. And cant come close to finding 15 victims.

2. If there are 15 deaths, it most likely didn't happen in 10 days. Couldn't find the death dates of all 4 of the Miami victims that I found.

3. There appears to be an anti-Ron DeSantis campaign against his decision against mask mandates of other actions by the governor and the media appears to be quick to report tragic COVID 19 death news without fact checking.

I'll keep you posted on the accuracy of this story.

-Abe Coleman, 55, Miami teacher died on 9/1/21
-Michael Thomas, Miami teacher died 8/30/21
-Lillian Smith, who worked for Miami schools died in early August
-Lakeisha Williams, cafeteria worker in Miami school and daughter of Lillian Smith also died in early August.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 9th, 2021, 4:01 am

UPDATE: Spokes person, Jaquelyn Calzadilla told the 'Washington Post' via email that the Miami Dade school district is aware of 13 deaths since August 16, which is 23 days. The article only identifies one victim, Abe Coleman, who died on 9/1/21
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 10th, 2021, 9:13 pm

UPDATE: The story is now identifying 13 staffers in the Miami Dade system that have died which included 4 teachers. CNN and other networks first reported that 15 teachers had died, but this article claims that 4 teachers died from COVID. Also the claim that all the deaths occurred in 10 days is completely untrue because the teacher identified as Abe Coleman died on 9/1 and the cafeteria worker that died that was able to identify as Lakeisha Williams died sometime in August before the school semester even started, maybe 3 weeks before Abe.

Thirteen staffers from Miami-Dade County Public Schools, all of whom were unvaccinated, have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the new academic year in August.

Among the 13 who died from the virus were four teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers, CNN reported on Tuesday.

United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats confirmed to CNN during an interview on Wednesday that all 13 staffers were African American, and had not been vaccinated.


She said the situation is “very tragic and very heartbreaking,” and said students, faculty and staff in the community are all grieving.

“It's just really devastating, and to see the trends, to see that this is happening in African American communities, to see that it's unvaccinated people, you know, we just, you know, we're at a loss for words,” she added.

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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 13th, 2021, 1:42 am

UPDATE: Here is a Miami Herald newspaper article that is focusing on that the people died from COVID where not vaccinated that that there are new efforts to increase vaccination efforts. The article claims 13 Miami Dade school worked have died since the school semester began.
Thirteen unvaccinated Miami-Dade County Public School employees have died from COVID-19 since the 2021-2022 school year began on Aug. 23, including teachers, according to the school district’s teachers union.
But I previously found that some of the 13 people died before school even began. This article identified 3 teachers that died.
“As we continue to mourn the tragic loss of our union brothers and sisters to COVID last week, we believe it is now our duty to honor Mr. Coleman, Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Thomas, three incredible laborers who served our community,’’ said UTD President Karla Hernandez-Mats in a statement. “As educators, we want to ensure that people have access to the information and the resources they need to get vaccinated and hopefully, spare other families from the terrible effects of this virus.”

These are the three victims that were identified only by their last names.
1. Abe Coleman died on 9/1
2. Lillian Smith died on
3. Michael Thomas died on 8/30/21
A forth victim, Lakisha Williams, was also identified as Lilian's daughter. What also interesting is that the Mother and daughter died before the school semester began on 8/23 although the article by MICHELLE MARCHANTE states that all school employees died since the school year started on 8/23. Only two of the 13 people have been identified as dying from COVID.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 13th, 2021, 1:52 am

I found Michael Robert Thomas on Miami coroner database and you can see he did died on 8/30/21. The other three victims are not found in the Miami Dade coroner database. Not sure why that is, maybe they died in another county.
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Three Miami-Dade employees die of COVID

Unread post by alexalonso » September 13th, 2021, 2:36 am

Now the story circulating in FLorida is that three teachers died of COVID that were working for Miami-Dade.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » September 13th, 2021, 6:11 pm

The spokes person for United Teachers of Dade said there were aware of 13 death anecdotally. And only four total victms identified and only two teachers identified, but some people are running with this unconfirmed story.


Among the 13 were four teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers, United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats said. All were unvaccinated."These were extraordinary educators and people, and their loss is being felt throughout the community," Hernandez-Mats said. 'I don't know what the school year is going to bring' The school district's Covid-19 dashboard keeps track of cases, but not deaths. A spokesperson told CNN they were aware of the 13 deaths anecdotally and through family members who reported them.

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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » November 13th, 2021, 4:10 pm

Well into November and this story has still not been confirmed. Have been completely unsuccessful with identifying 15 deaths within 10 days, the 10 days would gave been from August 21 - September 4. Still not clear on the 10 days they are claiming.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » November 13th, 2021, 11:56 pm

MiamiTimesOnline has an obituary section and I was able to find an obituary for Lakisha Williams who worked for Miami Dade Public schools as a cafeteria worker. She died on August 25, 2021. She was also the daughter of Lillian Smith who also died in early August.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » November 14th, 2021, 12:01 am

TIMOTHY J EPPS-JONES, 45, and employee of Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) Transportation Dept. driving instructor, died August 30 at Jackson South Community Hospital. Viewing 5-7 p.m., at The Birthplace International Ministry, 11500 S.W. 220th Street (Goulds). Service 1 p.m., Saturday at the church. He may have died of COVID-19.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » November 14th, 2021, 12:10 am

Phylis Pinder, 79, educator, MDCPS, died September 1 at Vitas Hospice. Service 10 a.m., Saturday at St. Matthews Missionary Baptist Church.

She was not currently working for Miami Dade Schools, but some how she was counted as 1 of the 15 that died in 10 days.

Also found this info on Ms Pinder:
Phyllis Pinder Obituary
Here is Phyllis Pinder’s obituary. Please accept Echovita’s sincere condolences.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Phyllis Pinder (Miami, Florida), who passed away on September 1, 2021, at the age of 79, leaving to mourn family and friends. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Phyllis Pinder to pay them a last tribute. You may also light a candle in honor of Phyllis Pinder.
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Re: Did 15 Miami-Dade school employees really die of COVID in 10 days?

Unread post by alexalonso » November 14th, 2021, 12:17 am

DOROTHEA COPELAND, 71, retired teacher from Miami Dade County Public Schools, died September 5 at Memorial West Hospital.
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