JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Four Duval County Public Schools community members have contracted COVID-19 since school started, the district confirmed.
On Monday, the school district announced two staff cases — one at Highlands Middle School and one at the Young Women's/Men's Leadership Academy. The district said neither case impacts students on campus.
Two additional cases were reported Monday evening at Landon College Preparatory and Dinsmore Elementary School, respectively. It's unclear if the two latter cases involve students, teachers or faculty, but both called for contact tracing to some degree, the district said.
“First we tell the people who are directly affected," District Spokesman Tracy Pierce said. "If anyone needs to quarantine, they find out first. Then, the parents of the school, if there is an educational impact. The two on Friday [Highlands and Young Women's/Men's Leadership Academy] had no educational impact."
This news comes shortly after the state Department of Health revealed that there have been 24 confirmed school-related COVID-19 cases in Duval County since Aug. 10. For public schools in Duval, teacher planning began on Aug. 12.
According to the school district, it is working with the local Department of Health to communicate with families and students who would need to quarantine. Those the district and health department deem as exposed will be called, the district said.
"No robocall will be made if the positive case does not impact other students at the school," the district said.
After the school district published its initial report, the Times-Union received copies of the same email from two different faculty members at Landon College Preparatory confirming an additional positive COVID-19 case in Duval County Public Schools.
"Today, we became aware of an individual who was on the school campus and who has now tested positive for COVID-19," Principal Katrina Blakely said in the email. "Working with the Department of Health, we have performed contact tracing to identify any individual who has had prolonged close contact with the person diagnosed."
Blakely added that anyone with prolonged close contact has received a "personal communication from the Florida Department of Health" regarding quarantine.
"If you have not received a personal communication, your child is not impacted by this situation," Blakely said.
Daily, Duval Schools teachers are required to take a wellness survey before entering buildings that asks about symptoms. Additionally, temperatures are taken ahead of the school day when entering district buildings. But these provisions focus on symptomatic COVID-19 cases. It's unclear if the two staff members who tested positive were symptomatic or asymptomatic.
The district did not require teachers to take a COVID-19 test before returning to work, a spokeswoman confirmed.
"We did promote often the multiple testing opportunities though," she said.
Duval County continues to offer free COVID-19 testing across Jacksonville. Additionally, Duval Schools announced it has added seven drive-thru testing sites available for school district employees.