While the 2021-2022 school year is officially underway, parents still have a lot of questions about COVID-19 procedures and mandates for the new school year.
ABC Action News has rounded up all of the information that you need to know. We also asked each county in Tampa Bay where students will be eating lunch and whether eating in the classroom is an option or something the district is considering. Below are the statements of the counties who answered us back.
Please note: This story will be updated as we learn more from local school districts
Citrus County
- COVID-19 safety protocols
- Masks are not required but will be available at all school sites and on all school buses for anyone wishing to wear one
- Hand sanitizing stations will stay in place on school campuses
- Students can bring their own water bottles to fill up throughout the day; the district strongly encourages that they be clear
- Isolation rooms are located in every school for students showing COVID-19 symptoms
- Screening and protocols from last school year will remain in effect
- Cleaning protocols will continue, including rapid response teams which the district has in partnership with the Citrus County Department of Health
- Students and staff should monitor their symptoms daily; anyone with a fever or COVID-19 related symptoms should NOT go to school
- Students and staff will be reminded throughout the day to practice proper hygiene, and signage promoting proper hygiene will be posted on campuses
- There is no requirement for students, employees, or their families to be vaccinated
Click here for more information.
DeSoto County
- COVID-19 safety protocols
- Face coverings are optional but encouraged and will be made available at school sites for students and staff
- All district buildings will continue enhanced cleaning and sanitizing protocols; cleaning supplies will continue to be provided to each school site by the district
- Social distancing practices, to the extent possible, will continue while also ensuring collaboration in classrooms and throughout all district buildings
- Schools and district offices will use three to six feet as a guide for social distancing
- Water fountains in all district buildings will remain closed
- Seating charts for classrooms, lunchrooms and busses may be requested if there is a positive case at a school site to support contact tracing under the direction of the Department of Health-DeSoto
- School nurses will be assigned to each school to help support students and monitor COVID-19 outbreaks
- School sites will maintain a separate space for individuals exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19
- The district will maintain the COVID team to ensure staff and site-based inquiries are addressed in a timely manner
- Staff and students who are fully vaccinated are not required to self-isolate due to exposure to COVID-19
- In alignment with state reporting practices, the district dashboard of confirmed COVID-19 cases will be updated on a weekly basis
Click here for more information.
Hardee County
- COVID-19 safety protocols
- Not available (ABC Action News has reached out to the school district for more information)
Click here for more information.
Hernando County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Face coverings are strongly recommended but are optional for students, staff and visitors
- A limited supply of disposable masks will be available
- Vaccinated students or staff, who are symptom-free but who have been identified as being in close contact with a COVID positive individual, will NOT be quarantined
- Wherever feasible, schools will create a three-foot buffer between students to reduce the potential for disease transmission
- Limit sharing of classroom materials
- Hand sanitizing stations will be available in hallways and common areas, including the entry to the cafeteria
- Student movement may be organized and monitored for safety
- Spaces throughout the school, high traffic areas and buses are cleaned regularly and in accordance with health and wellness guidelines
- COVID-19 vaccines are not required
- A separate clinic space will be utilized to separate symptomatic individuals from standard clinic operations
Click here for more information.
Highlands County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Not available (ABC Action News has reached out to the school district for more information)
Click here for more information.
Hillsborough County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- On Wednesday, August 18, the school board voted to enact a more restrictive mask mandate for students, teachers, and staff in county schools for 30 days starting Thursday, August 19 through Friday, Sept. 17. Face masks will be required, however, there is a medical exemption opt-out.
- Social distancing will continue to be promoted
- Sanitation stations will continue to be available with masks, wipes and hand sanitizer
- Individuals determined to be close contacts will quarantine for 10 days if they remain symptom-free per CDC and FLDOH recommendations OR seven days if a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on day six or later is negative and they remain symptom-free. Vaccinated people and those who have tested positive in the last 90 days do not need to quarantine.
- Where will students be eating lunch? Is eating in the classroom an option or something the district is considering?
- Meal service for breakfast and lunch will be offered in the cafeteria serving lines. Grab-and-go breakfast carts and “Breakfast in the Classroom” will be encouraged where available. Students will use pin pads to complete their lunch transactions. Student entrance in serving lines will be staggered to encourage social distancing. Serving lines and cafeteria tables will be sanitized frequently. Cafeteria seating charts will be created and maintained in elementary and middle schools. During cafeteria orientation, administrators will explain to students that they are not to pass or share any items, including food, with other students.
Click here for more information.
Manatee County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- On August 16, the school board approved mask mandate with an opt-out provision for students and teachers on school campuses through August 25.
- Continue thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all schools
- Maintain ample supplies of hand sanitizer, continue emphasis on handwashing protocols and have additional COVID protection materials in stock and available
- Continue water bottle filler retrofits
- Continue to inform students, families and employees regarding accessibility for COVID vaccinations
- Continue to update school air filtration systems
- Maintain the District Operations Center (D.O.C) to manage and coordinate the response to COVID in our schools with the Florida Department of Health (DOH) Manatee
- Continue to provide the community with updates regarding positive cases in schools
- Parents will be notified of positive cases via Connect-Ed messages so they can make informed decisions about their child’s attendance
- Ensure students with specialized needs receive appropriate care
- All students and employees who test COVID positive or are symptomatic with flu like symptoms cannot attend their school or report to their job site
- Students with COVID symptoms during the school day will be isolated and parents or guardians will be notified to pick up their child. DOH may make further recommendations. • Continue to utilize social distancing, hallway transition patterns, personal spacing, and other strategies when possible and appropriate
- Teachers continue to operate their classrooms in the safest manner possible
- Continue our all-encompassing approach to behavioral and mental health support services to students.
- Ensure school nurses are properly trained and ready to handle COVID related cases
- Communicate County COVID testing sites to all parents, students, and employees.
- All students and employees who are sick or who have symptoms will be sent home until they are symptom free.
- Temperature checks will be taken daily for all employees and randomly for students.
- Reinforce and practice proper handwashing techniques among students and staff.
- Provide and encourage the use of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Deep clean and disinfect schools and school buses daily, or in-between uses as needed.
- Make every effort to social distance as much as possible in schools.
- District employees visiting schools, other than their own, must wear masks during the school day.
- Provide plastic shields in elementary classrooms and cafeterias where possible.
- All employees will answer COVID-related questions daily upon arriving at work.
- Limit non-essential visitors and volunteers to school campuses.
- Wearing masks when indoors is strongly encouraged.
- Everyone eligible to be vaccinated is strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.
- Where will students be eating lunch?
- They will eat in the cafeteria and in some cases in surrounding courtyards to maintain social distancing.
Click here for more information.
Pasco County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Masks are optional
- All district employees, students, visitors, and volunteers will conduct a health self-screener prior to reporting to work or school each day. The screeners will be posted at the top of each school website.
- Staff and students will be encouraged to practice social distancing when and where possible.
- Teachers are encouraged to arrange the classroom environment to allow for adequate space between students to the extent possible.
- Enhanced cleaning will continue in all schools.
- Frequently touched surfaces around the campus will be disinfected throughout the day.
- Desks and tables, sinks, drinking fountains, and light switches will be disinfected daily.
- All classroom floors will be fully mopped daily.
- Walls, cabinets, and furniture will be disinfected twice weekly.
- AC filters will be replaced with greater frequency.
- The use of one-way traffic flows inside buildings is encouraged where feasible to improve social distancing of students and staff.
- Cleaning resources (hand sanitizer, soap, germicide) will be regularly replenished.
- Where will students be eating lunch? Is eating in the classroom an option or something the district is considering?
- Students will eat breakfast in the classroom. Lunch will be in the cafeteria and, in many cases, in an outdoor setting. Differs school by school.
Click here for more information.
Pinellas County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Face coverings will be strongly recommended (not mandatory) when indoors for both staff and students.
- School district personnel will not monitor nor enforce the use of face coverings for staff or students; however, face coverings will continue to be available at school sites for students, staff and visitors.
- All district buildings will continue enhanced cleaning and sanitizing protocols. Cleaning supplies will continue to be provided to each site by the district office.
- Social distancing practices, to the extent possible, will continue while also ensuring collaboration in classrooms, cafeterias and throughout all district buildings.
- While plexiglass barriers were once regarded as a strong mitigation layer, it is no longer viewed by the medical community as a priority strategy. The use of plexiglass has a negative impact on a collaborative learning environment but may be used sparingly.
- Water fountains in all district buildings will remain closed.
- At this time seating charts for classrooms, lunchrooms and buses will not be required in Focus but may be requested if there is a positive case at a school site to support contact tracing under the direction of the Department of Health-Pinellas (DOH-Pinellas).
- In accordance with government-issued guidance regarding public health, students and staff who are fully vaccinated will not need to quarantine in the event of an exposure to a positive COVID case unless they begin to experience symptoms. Quarantine decisions are made by the DOH-Pinellas.
- Only members of the district COVID team, working in conjunction with the DOH-Pinellas, should inquire into vaccination status.
- Every school will be assigned a nurse.
- In accordance with government-issued guidance regarding public health, school sites will maintain a separate space for individuals exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. Students sent home through the isolation room will be allowed to return to school using the same protocols as the 2020-21 school year (i.e. negative COVID test or alternative diagnosis for symptoms or 10 days absent from school).
- The district will maintain the COVID team to ensure staff and student cases are addressed in a timely manner. Schools should use the current COVID-19 dashboard to report positive cases and positive household members.
- In alignment with state reporting practices, the district dashboard of confirmed COVID-19 cases will be updated on a weekly basis. The district dashboard can be accessed by going to: https://www.pcsb.org/COVID19Cases
- Daily attestations of wellness will no longer be needed for students, staff or visitors.
- Families will be regularly reminded to keep their student home and seek further care if they are not well.
- Where will students be eating lunch?
- Students will practice social distancing while in the cafeteria. Hand sanitizer is readily available for students and they’re encouraged to use it and practice frequent hand washing. Where students eat (classroom or outside) is up to that school principal and their teachers. It will vary from school to school. The cleaning and disinfecting protocols continue from last school year.
Click here for more information.
Polk County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- Face coverings are optional but are strongly recommended
- If worn, face coverings should cover both the nose and mouth and fit snugly against the face.
- Face coverings must comply with general dress code and school uniform requirements.
- Students and staff may wear face shields in addition to face coverings.
- Students, staff, and visitors will not be required to complete temperature screening upon arrival on campuses
- Anyone with a fever or COVID-related symptoms should not come to school.
- Students and staff will be reminded throughout the day to practice proper hygiene, and signage promoting proper hygiene will be posted on campuses.
- Hand sanitizer will be available throughout each campus.
- Social distancing will be encouraged to the greatest extent possible in schools and classrooms.
- Seating charts will be used to assist with social distancing as well as contact tracing efforts in the event of a positive case.
- Students should avoid sharing devices and supplies.
- Facilities will be cleaned thoroughly and regularly, and high-touch areas will be disinfected throughout the day.
- Deep cleaning will take place when there is a confirmed case of COVID-19.
- All classes and school clinics are being equipped with air purifiers featuring HEPA filtration.
- Air conditioning filters will be changed frequently.
- Small groups of students may be able to “dress-out” with administrative approval. These small groups of students should maintain social distance to the greatest extent possible in the locker room.
- Face coverings are optional but are strongly recommended
- Where will students be eating lunch?
- Students will be using cafeterias for meals. However, principals have the discretion to use classrooms as an option if they wish.
Click here for more information.
Sarasota County
- COVID-19 safety protocols:
- On August 20, the school board voted to enact a 90-day mask mandate with an opt-out option only available for medical reasons.
- Classrooms, as well as high traffic areas and touchpoints, will continue to be cleaned regularly, as they were throughout this past year.
- Social distancing is recommended when possible but the district says it cannot be guaranteed and is dependent on the number of students and staff in any location at a given time
- The district will continue to follow DOH guidelines utilizing their quarantine procedures.
- Where will students be eating lunch?
- District-wide all students will eat in the cafetorium; however, some schools on occasion make different arrangements dependent upon need.
Click here for more information.