- April 26, 2024
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Students in Flagler County will return to school Aug. 24, and the district does not have a threshold for a case rate that would lead to a school closure.
Board member Colleen Conklin had pressed fellow school board members during a meeting to address that question — one raised often by critics of the district’s reopening plan — but as of Tuesday, Aug. 18, the School Board and district administration had not done so.
The state is requiring districts to open for in-person instruction, and Gov. Ron DeSantis in an Aug. 14 press conference said that districts should be “surgical” in any decisions to close schools due to COVID-19 cases.
“My personal feeling is that we do need to make a decision, whether it’s developing a policy around positivity rates and pediatric rates and what type of response the district will be taking,” Conklin said in an interview.
She acknowledged that any threshold chosen would have its critics.
“The best you can do is try to acknowledge and understand right now the concerns and fears that they have, and then do everything that we can to put those to rest,” she said. “But no matter what we do, it’s almost — there will be someone upset.”
For now, she said, “As we return to school, it’s obviously very different than it’s been in the past. But hopefully parents, students and staff know we are trying our best to make sure that everyone is learning and working in a safe environment, and I continue to look forward to having conversations with our School Board members about tracking the COVID data and how best to appropriately respond.”
Teachers and staff returned to school in Flagler County on Aug. 10.
As of Aug. 12, a total of 10 district staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 since March; as of Aug. 19, that number was 15.
The district has declined to give specific information on where COVID-19 cases have occurred at district facilities, citing educational and medical privacy laws.
Although students have the option to watch classes remotely through a webcam from home or to instead take iFlagler online classes, teachers and staff are expected to work on campus.
Schools are adding hand sanitizer stations, making some entrances one-way, and moving some students to outdoor seating during lunch, among other COVID safety measures.
Christine Patterson, head of Flagler For a Safe Return, said teachers have been talking among themselves their concerns, but feel that they can’t speak up publicly for fear of being fired.
Although children are less likely to have severe symptoms from COVID-19 than are adults, they do catch it: As of Aug. 17, according to data provided by the state, 23,211 cases, 4% of the state’s total, have been in children between the ages of 5 and 14. An additional 85,815, or 15%, have been in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
Three children between 5 and 14 have died in Florida from COVID-19, and 196 have been hospitalized.
In Flagler County, 4% of positive COVID-19 tests have been for children ages 5 to 14.
