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In the latest sign that the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is set to impact schools far worse this academic school year than the virus did when the pandemic first struck the United States in 2020, Brevard Public Schools reported Tuesday that 3,000 more students and staff have been quarantined from Friday to Monday.
Since the district began reporting numbers Aug. 2, 1,077 students and staff have tested positive.
The latest numbers present a clear indication of how the illness could disrupt the school year. The district’s latest COVID-19 report lists 87 schools or administrative facilities impacted by a positive COVID-19 case. Two schools had more than 200 quarantines, eight had more than 100 and 20 had 50 or more.
According to the report, the schools with the top 10 highest reported quarantines were:
- Space Coast Jr./Sr. High with 264 quarantines
- Astronaut High with 223 quarantines
- Madison Middle with 185 quarantines
- Satellite High with 182 quarantines
- Melbourne High with 139 quarantines
- Bayside High with 136 quarantines
- Edgewood Jr./Sr. High with 117 quarantines
- Merritt Island High with 108 quarantines
- DeLaura Middle with 99 quarantines
- Sunrise Elementary with 86 quarantines
BPS Spokesman Russell Bruhn said that the district is watching some schools closely, but “isn’t close” to having discussions about closing any of them. No classrooms have closed either, he said.
Some in the county have expressed fear that the lack of a mask requirement could allow COVID-19 to spread unchecked through schools this year, especially given the surging cases in the county and the spread of the more contagious delta strain, and have called upon the School Board to instate a universal mask policy — a move ruled out by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The majority of the School Board has also shown no interest in a universal mask policy.
Vaccines are not yet available for children under the age of 12, and less than half of eligible teens have received a shot. State data shows that an increased number of people aged 12-19 have been vaccinated in the past two weeks as students prepared to return to school. Now 44{14f62f8d01b0e9e4416e7be29f093eee2960b1e4c60488fca25d8fca5b82c641} of Floridians in that age group have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Others consider even this year’s pared-back restrictions too harsh and have demanded an end to quarantines of asymptomatic children. Last week Assistant Superintendent Christine Moore said some parents have resisted testing their children because siblings would also be quarantined in the event of a positive test, and a parent at an Aug. 10 School Board meeting suggested to peers that they didn’t have to identify close contacts during contact tracing.
At the start of the second week of school, Brevard Public Schools reported over 3,000 more employees and students were quarantined between Friday and Monday, and 362 more positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff.
Of the 3,049 quarantines listed in the district’s biweekly COVID-19 update, 2,632 people were quarantined due to contact with someone who tested positive at a school facility, while 417 people were quarantined due to contact with someone at home or in the community.
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The number of quarantined students at Satellite High led district officials to cancel a preseason football game between Satellite High and Viera scheduled for Friday. The cancellation was the first for an area high school game this year; several Brevard schools faced game cancellations last year. The district said decisions on cancelling sports activities are made on a case-by-case basis.
Brevard Public Schools has about 9,000 employees. About 71,000 students attended school the first week.
Transportation staff recorded 107 quarantines. Bruhn said that number could include any transportation workers including bus drivers, mechanics and support staff.
Since the district began reporting numbers for the 2021-2022 school year on Aug. 2, BPS has seen 1,077 cases (228 employees and 849 students) and 4,592 quarantines, 3,403 of which came from contact with someone who tested positive at school.
More:Quarantining likely the next hot button battleground issue for Brevard schools and parents
Many of the district’s COVID-19 cases were reported before the school year even began. From Aug. 2 to Aug. 9, 242 students and employees tested positive for COVID-19 and 483 people were required to quarantine. Of those quarantines, 144 resulted from contact with a case in a school setting.
Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at [email protected] or 321-242-3786.