JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The superintendent of Duval County Public Schools is sharing new insight with the Jacksonville community about what the reopening process for public schools could look like when students return to the classroom in less than a month.
Monday, Dr. Diana Greene shared a presentation with the Meninak Club of Jacksonville, previewing what the school district will present to the state for its back-to-school plan following Tuesday morning's school board workshop.
One of the biggest issues Greene said the district will face is transportation, including the problem of enforcing social distancing on school buses and equipping students with masks.
"That is probably one of our number one issues because we already know we cannot social distance on a school bus," Greene said. "Under the CDC guidelines it was recommended only one student for every other seat. On a 77-passenger bus, that’s somewhere between nine to 11 students. It would take us almost 10 hours to deliver our students if we were simply only to put one student per every other seat."
Because the district will not be able to meet the social distancing guidance, that means students will be required to wear a facial covering and use hand sanitizer when they depart from the bus, Greene said. Buses will also have to be wiped down between routes: before high school routes begin, between high school routes and elementary school routes and again between elementary school routes and middle school routes.
"So that’s one area that’s quite challenging that we have to deal with to ensure that we can transport our students to and from school," Greene said.
Greene also gave an update on how cloth face masks will be enforced when it comes to students inside the classroom. The district will not require pre-K through 2nd grade to wear masks; instead, those students will have face shields.
The district spent $300,000 on cloth face masks during the spring. It will be students in grades 4 through 12 who will receive those.
The superintendent also shared insight into the classroom sizes for core classes grade-by-grade.
- Kindergarten – 3rd Grade: 18 students
- 4th grade – 8th Grade: 22 students
- 9th Grade – 12th Grade: 25 students
Schools will have temperature scanning points, but it was not clear who will be conducting the scans. There will be two locations set up in elementary schools, three at middle schools and four at high schools, Greene said.
Teachers will be able to protect themselves with a face shield, cloth mask and gloves, Greene said. The presentation also says custodial staff schedules will be adjusted to support frequent on ongoing sanitation throughout the day.
Greene also stated the school district is submitting a waiver to appeal to parts of the state's in-person schooling mandate, but did not specify which parts.
The full presentation can be viewed below.
THE EXECUTIVE ORDER
In response to Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s five-days-a-week executive order, some school districts have already responded that they don’t intend to follow the order and will continue with virtual learning instead.
At a previous school board meeting, Greene didn’t indicate that she would be doing the same, openly discussing how the school district would meet five-day-a-week instruction.
But at Monday’s meeting, Greene alluded to the district submitting a waiver because of the influx of cases hitting Jacksonville and the fact that the Republican National Convention is confirmed to come to town.
“I believe we will be requesting a waiver from the portion on [opening in person five days per week] based on the amount of cases we’re experiencing, plus a major event that will bring tens of thousands to our city when we have no idea how that will impact our schools.”
ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH
When schools open in fall, Greene said there will be a three-tiered approach to address stress, mental health issues and learning loss caused by the sudden transition to distance learning last school year.
“Our intention is to focus on student learning, to address learning losses and weaknesses from distance learning ... [and] tending to students, faculty and staff with emotional support,” Greene said.
The superintendent added that the district is working to offer mentoring, group counseling and is working with outside groups like the Kids Hope Alliance to provide “mental health support.”
MEETING CDC GUIDELINES
Greene said the district already knows there will be some gaps between what schools are able to provide versus the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines regarding the coronavirus.
One example she used was bus routes.
“That’s one area that is quite challenging that we have to deal with,” she said.
Greene said the buses won’t be able to accommodate the recommended social distancing so face coverings will be mandated for the bus ride’s duration as well as hand-sanitizing on the way in and out of the bus. She added that buses will be sanitized and wiped down between every bus route.
The superintendent added that custodial models have shifted with more custodians available during the day to “constantly clean high touch areas,” instead of in the evening.
Schools are also being outfitted with banners, signage and sandwich boards to promote social distancing.
DEALING WITH ILLNESS
Greene said the first nine weeks of school, visitors won’t be allowed inside school buildings.
“The key is to not have outside individuals coming into the building,” she said.
Schools still plan to provide daily temperature checks for anyone entering the building.
Greene said the school district is also working with the Duval County Department of Health to assist with both contract tracing and guidance for outbreaks.
“Everything we’re doing is about mitigating the spread. We know we will not stop the spread of COVID-19,” Greene said.
If someone contracts the coronavirus, Greene said the Department of Health will determine who needs to isolate and if a classroom or the entire school needs to close.
When asked what happens if a teacher needs to quarantine and if their time in isolation will be paid, Greene pointed to Tuesday’s school board meeting.
“We will be presenting a number of options to the school board tomorrow,” she said. “If unfortunately they are a positive for COVID-19, it really depends on what is the situation, which type of leave would be most appropriate.”
IN-PERSON INTERACTIONS
According to Greene, the school district is hosting some in-person activities with students including summer camps, voluntary pre-K, athletic camps, band camp and cheer camp.
Though she didn’t go into specifics, Greene said the athletic camps have been hosted solely outside and in stages, moving from workouts to being allowed to touch a football only this week.
“We’re treating the camps as soft openings,” she said, “implementing guidelines and using it as a trial.”
Greene added, “I know for our high school students, sports club and band are all very important to them for their social interaction with one another. Right now I would not want to have to cancel those types of activities. However right now the protocols are very rigid and very strict.”
THE FUTURE
Greene said she worries about the uptick in cases in Duval County as well as the fact that the average age of those affected by the virus is skewing younger.
“That means younger people are contracting it and that means for our high school, there are large scale events every single day. Every time you’re trying to move a couple thousand students across a campus, you’re doing a large scale event ... How do we figure out how to keep them, as well as their teachers, as safe as possible?”
Greene added that even if children are less affected, “they go home to adults and they’re being taught by adults.”
“It isn’t just about one individual,” she said. “It’s about us all working together to support one another.”