ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – While a delay is still being considered, right now St. Johns County schools are set to start Aug. 10 with the responsibility of keeping kids safe.
That means sparing no costs.
As of last week, the district had spent more than $1.6 million on personal protective equipment, according to documents obtained by News4Jax, and that number is expected to grow. That’s because many of the items bought cant be reused.
Let’s break it down.
More than $26,000 has been spent on disposable gloves. Thermometers to check students’ temperatures when they walk in the door cost the district $157,000.
And what about those required face masks? Cloth masks for K-12 students cost more than $105,000. With just shy of 44,000 students, that’s about $2 a mask.
And don’t forget face masks for faculty and staff, that’s $16,000, on top of the N-95′s needed for the nurses, another $5,000.
Also, those signs with the CDC guidelines and basic hygiene protocols add up too, an additional $22,500.
Most of the other costs make up additional PPE like sanitizer, disinfectant, even batteries for the thermometers.
It all adds up to $1.67 million, and that’s before the first school bell rings.
The school board approved the money for the equipment at a meeting this week. It wasn’t immediately clear if the money will be reimbursed through the CARES Act.