Janelle Irwin Taylor
Eight more Pinellas County students were confirmed positive with COVID-19 Tuesday, according to data the school district released Wednesday.
The cases, at seven different public schools throughout the county, resulted in 15 partial classroom quarantines and 1 partial bus quarantine.
Two students tested positive at Pasadena Fundamental Elementary School, resulting in two partial classroom quarantines. Quarantine orders in elementary schools are typically more isolated because students don’t attend multiple classes.
One student each tested positive at Mildred Helms Elementary School, Tarpon Springs Elementary School, Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8 school, Meadowlawn Middle School, St. Petersburg High School and Hollins High School.
Madeira Beach Fundamental and St. Petersburg High each issued quarantines in five classrooms while St. Pete High also issued quarantines on one bus. Hollins High School issued quarantines in three classrooms.
Cases have now been reported in 63 Pinellas County traditional public schools. A total of 81 students and 35 employees have tested positive since schools opened Aug. 24. At least 197 classrooms have been affected as well as several buses and “groups of students” and three sports teams or groups.
That data does not reflect cases at charter schools, which are publicly funded, but privately operated and are not subject to the same reporting requirements or quarantine guidelines as the rest of the district.
The Pinellas County Schools district reported six student cases at charter schools Wednesday, though the cases are dated. The district did not receive data until Sept. 28. Two students tested positive at Plato Academy, one on Sept. 14 and the other on Sept. 17. Three students tested positive at Plato Academy Seminole on Sept. 3 and one student tested positive at MycroSchool Pinellas on Aug. 31.
Florida Politics previously reported Plato Academy Palm Harbor briefly closed earlier this month after an employee tested positive there.
The three schools that reported cases this week did not provide details on how the cases impacted their campuses.
