CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Clay County students returned to school Tuesday with masks "highly encouraged," but not required according to the district.
This year, only 250 students are signed up for Clay Virtual Academy this year out of 40,000 students. Last year, 2,500 students were on Clay Virutal.
One Clay Online, designed for students who wanted to stay enrolled in school but didn't feel comfortable going to brick and mortar last year, isn't offered this year.
“I’ve thought about that [COVID concerns], but honestly my biggest concern is that I won’t remember their names honestly," Jennifer Collins, Principal of Fleming Island Elementary School said Tuesday morning about COVID concerns. "We’ve put so many things into place, so many mitigation strategies into place.”
"We had a great year last year. We utilized those strategies, and we kept our kids and our staff and our families healthy and safe," she said.
Clay County Schools Superintendent David Broskie agreed with Collins.
“I think that everyone’s concern is rightfully so," Broskie said. "I think that each family is going to make determinations based on their own individual health and own individual thoughts about this. I think the school system stands ready to partner with parents on this, partner with our health department and partner with teachers and staff."
COVID-19 mitigation efforts include staggered dismissal times, hallways and stairwells one way where possible, social distancing signage and sanitizing stations throughout schools. The district says cafeterias will have assigned seating and staggered arrival and dismissal times too.
“It’s a different year. We wish that things were different to start the school year, but I just tell you I’m proud of our staff and everyone in Clay County schools for banning together to make this the best year possible for our students," Broskie said.
Collins said at Fleming Island Elementary, tables are dismissed one by one in the cafeteria as well.
According to the school system's "Smart Restart Plan Phase II," it's also highly recommended that families and staff take temperatures daily before coming to school, and if one has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, they shouldn't go to school. The district also asks everyone to screen themselves for symptoms before coming to school too.
In classrooms, there's assigned seating, according to the plan, and desks are spaced out.
If your child tests positive for COVID or has been exposed to the virus, the plan asks you to contact your child's principal and tell them.
Additional bus drivers were hired, the plan says, to help reduce the number of students on buses. There's also hand sanitizer on buses, assigned seating and students and drivers wear masks unless social distancing is in place.
When asked if there is a threshold for the number of positive cases the that would constitute changes in the COVID safety protocols, Broskie said they're going to look at things on a case-by-case basis.
"We’re going to look at each situation and each class, each bus, each school separately to make those kind of determinations. We successfully made it through last school year with all of the mitigation that we have in place, everything from electrostatic sprayers to the recommended use of face coverings this year which I know is the big talk, but there’s many other mitigation strategies in place to keep our students safe."
Collins added she, the teachers, students and parents are happy to be back.
"I was up at 4 a.m. I’m like the kids on the first day of school, honestly. You have to pick out your new outfit, new shoes, get up early," she said.
Matthew Sullivan said his grandchildren, seven and 11-years-old, who attend Fleming Island Elementary School, chose to wear masks when he let them decide. Sullivan said he thinks his own experience with COVID, staying a week in the hospital fighting the virus, helped them make their decision.
"It's up to them, basically," he said. "They’re smart kids, and they decided they want to wear them, and so they wear them," he said.
"I came pretty close to being on a ventilator, but fortunately I pulled through, so they had a firsthand experience of what this virus really is," Sullivan said. "It’s still good to be safe than sorry. Any precaution is better than no precaution, so it was a good lesson for them,” he said.
Jessica and Kyle Boivin said they’re concerned about the spike in COVID as their daughters return to school at Fleming Island Elementary, but trust the school system’s efforts.
"I think they’ve taken the necessary precautions out here," Kyle Boivin said. "The kids are excited to get back to school and see their friends. We've had a great summer and it’s time to get back to learning," he said.
Vicki Kidwell, President of the the Clay County Education Association, the teachers' union in Clay, said not all of the teachers feel safe because of the relaxed protocols compared to last year, she said.
"I think in a lot of ways if we had the same tools [as last year] people would say ‘hey we knew we could do this,'" she said. "'We kept the schools open. Yeah, we had isolations. We had quarantines, but we got through it.' This year, we don’t know what is going to happen," Kidwell said.
Parent Danielle Corker said she's sending her fifth grader to school this year with a mask.
“Since he did the online schooling last year, we didn’t have that much of a worry about the exposure or possible exposure of going back into brick and mortar," Corker said. "This year is a little different because now we are worried about a possible exposure and how we would handle that," Corker said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 39 percent of the population 12-years-old or older is fully vaccinated in Clay County.