Kelly Hayes
Hillsborough County Schools reported its highest number of student coronavirus cases this week after the Labor Day holiday.
The spike seen this week brought the district’s total reported cases to 94 since schools opened Aug. 31, with 65 students and 29 employees. On Wednesday, the county recorded 14 student cases, the highest number reported in one day (originally the dashboard reported only 10, but was later updated).
Thursday saw only seven student and five employee cases, and Friday six and one, respectively.
Students and employees listed in the dashboard since reopening have each been on campus, except for four students listed on the Aug. 31 report who were not on campus, since it was the first day of school. The dashboard is updated automatically every hour from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
Individuals in contact with a confirmed case on campus must be quarantined, required to stay home for 14 days. However, the Hillsborough County School District has yet to release quarantine information publicly, despite neighboring Pasco and Pinellas counties recording these numbers. Pasco releases the total number of students and employees quarantined while Pinellas reports only classrooms affected.
Although Pasco County has only recorded 44 student cases and 15 staff cases since the start of the school year on Aug. 24, the district has had to quarantine 1,133 students and 97 staff members.
On Friday, Pasco reported six student cases and one staff case, after a midweek low. On Thursday, Pasco had to quarantine 101 students at Land O’ Lakes High School following one student case. The same day, Zephyrhills High School had to quarantine 81 students — adding to the schools 186 already quarantined students.
In Pinellas County, the district has now issued quarantines in at least 67 classrooms, on two school buses and one high school sports team.
Cases of COVID-19 have now been reported at 34 Pinellas County Schools with 25 students and 23 employees testing positive. Of those schools, nine have not issued quarantines. Quarantines may not be necessary in situations where a staff member tests positive, but hasn’t had direct contact with anyone, something that could happen with non-instructional staff. In other circumstances, students or employees who tested positive the first week of school may not have been on campus.
This week, the district began altering the way it determines quarantines. Previously if a student or staff member tested positive for COVID-19, any classroom where that individual had been was quarantined. Now, the Department of Health Pinellas County only quarantines students who were in close proximity with a positive patient, typically within six-feet for at least 15 minutes.
The FEA released a 30-second commercial slamming DeSantis for not providing more campus data on infections. The Association has also leveled criticism at Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran for pushing school openings without releasing more health information.
“The Governor and the Education Commissioner have been pressuring school districts and health departments to keep them from releasing relevant and important information about coronavirus in our schools,” said FEA President Andrew Spar.
The state’s largest teachers union recently sued the administration over a Corcoran order requiring all schools to reopen five days a week at the end of August. Courts ruled that order was unconstitutional, though the administration has appealed, prompting a stay. At this point, many districts that wanted to delay opening have gone ahead and opened schools anyway amid legal uncertainty.
8 comments
Republicans will win
September 12, 2020 at 8:39 pm
What a crock of bs…just so teachers don’t have to work. It’s the flu people…why wasn’t a pandemic called with H1N1 and the Bird flu? All politics. So tired of this molehill into mountain tactic…
Scrapulicious
September 13, 2020 at 9:15 am
This reporter just graduated…she is a victim to the “woke” educational mess that’s taken over our school systems across this country … aka she is another indoctrinated liberal sadly! Give her a few years, she’ll see the truth eventually…. hopefully! When she starts digging into things seeing how corrupt and controlled the Media is …. that is IF she truly cares about the art she trained her life for…. journalism!
Danny
September 13, 2020 at 2:04 pm
It doesn’t take a journalist to put a story together so you can read it and see what’s going on with the world today maybe you need to wake up people are dying because of Covid 19 this is a fact not a fairy tale but a fact and what difference does it make if the journal is just graduated data is data facts are facts she didn’t make this shit up
daniel bain
September 13, 2020 at 2:16 pm
Coronavirus-related deaths of young teachers raise alarm as new school year begins
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 / 9:07 AM / CBS/AP
0908-en-villafranca3-543474-640×360.jpg
Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the beginning of the new school year. The deaths have left a teachers’ union leader worrying that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly impact across the U.S. if proper precautions aren’t taken.
daniel bain
September 13, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Are you serious facts are facts teachers are getting sick and dying in students are getting sick it has nothing to do with teachers not wanted to work the president of the United States who is a Republican who said from his mouth this virus is more deadlier than the flu where have you been living at under a rock wake up.
daniel bain
September 13, 2020 at 2:15 pm
Coronavirus-related deaths of young teachers raise alarm as new school year begins
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 / 9:07 AM / CBS/AP
0908-en-villafranca3-543474-640×360.jpg
Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the beginning of the new school year. The deaths have left a teachers’ union leader worrying that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly impact across the U.S. if proper precautions aren’t taken.
Mae
September 13, 2020 at 3:19 am
This website definitely has all the information and facts I wanted concerning
this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Joe
September 13, 2020 at 4:38 pm
If this virus was no big deal, as some of the people commenting here are claiming, then why are there teachers who have worked in the profession for 30, even 40 years, resigning? These are teachers who have endured crisis after crisis. They’ve dealt with school violence, the threat of school shootings, behavioral issues, and often spend their own money on their students. Many of them have repeatedly turned down offers for better pay and less stress. People who are that dedicated aren’t going to quit on a whim. If they’re concerned enough to leave a profession that some of them have been in longer than many of their student’s parents have been alive, that’s a strong indication that this is a serious threat.
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