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Superintendent: Phase 3 reopening doesn’t affect schools

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 10/7/20

FLEMING ISLAND – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to move Florida into Phase 3 of COVID-19 reopening doesn’t affect district schools.

Superintendent David Broskie discussed the governor’s move to …

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Superintendent: Phase 3 reopening doesn’t affect schools


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to move Florida into Phase 3 of COVID-19 reopening doesn’t affect district schools.

Superintendent David Broskie discussed the governor’s move to start Phase 3 of COVID-19 reopening during the Oct. 1 Clay County School Board meeting. Parents may have been wondering if this has any effect on school but Broskie said that Phase 3 plan doesn’t mention schools.

“Phase 3 makes no mention of schools,” Broskie said. “It lifts travel restrictions, capacities on restaurants, theme parks, sports events, retail and other stores but there’s nothing related to schools in Phase 3.”

Broskie said despite the reopening, the school district’s plan will remain the same. He said the school district will continue to follow local and state health officials to maintain what he believes is already “best practice” to mitigate the virus.

“We’ve done very well as far as mitigating the spread of the virus and we cannot let our guard down,” Broskie said.

He’s right, too. The district had a total of just 44 positive cases of COVID-19 in September out of nearly 40,000 students. Broskie said he sees extremely low percentages when he compares weekly cases against the total student body, but warns nobody in the district should get comfortable just because the numbers stay low.

The superintendent also mentioned quarantining and the importance of parental measures in keeping COVID-19 out of schools. A recent positive case stemmed from a student who had felt sick but opted to go to school anyway. That student was sick and went to get a COVID-19 test, Broskie said. The student hadn’t received the results back yet but didn’t feel sick enough to skip school so they attended school until they got their results. Those results were positive.

One student in high school, for example, takes six classes. That’s six different pools a sick students that possibly could spread the virus – not to mention the extracurricular activities a student might be involved in like sports, chorus or band.

“Parents: if your child isn’t feeling well, keep them home,” Broskie said. “This year, more than ever, we strongly encourage sick students to stay home. It’s important that if your child is sick, they stay home….they could lead to quarantine for multiple people...and the idea is to mitigate those numbers.”

In other business, the superintendent also talked about parents and students who may switch education formats in the next semester. The district has already seen a number of students say they’re ready to return to brick and mortar schools and the district is working to meet that demand.