PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Every member of the Nease High School dance and freshman volleyball teams are in quarantine due to possible exposure to the coronavirus, the district confirmed Friday.
According to a district spokesman, both teams were quarantined this week along with other students at the Ponte Vedra Beach school after contact tracing was completed.
The quarantine forced the cancellation of a freshman volleyball game Thursday night.
The reaction at the school appears to be mixed.
One student News4Jax spoke with says it was a topic of concern among her classmates and another student I spoke with says he’s not too concerned because he knows the people in quarantine will be okay and eventually back in class.
Nease High School sophomore Keira Sargent has friends on both teams. She says the school day felt different.
“So many people in the school are missing and they have to cancel games now because the entire teams have to be quarantined. So, it’s weird because everything’s changing,” Sargent said.
Sargent said she is taking the COVID-19 threat seriously.
“We don’t know who has it, but we know who has been exposed, so if they were in any of our classes, we could have been to,” she said.
Jordan McGovern is also a Nease High school sophomore. He said all his friends at school have been talking about the classmates who are forced to quarantine.
“It doesn’t really bother us at all because they’re still going to come back to school in two weeks," McGovern said.
McGovern’s father is not too worried either because he says the school is taking every precaution to prevent the virus from spreading on campus.
“I believe they are doing as much as they can to get it all taken care of, protecting the kids, otherwise I would not have sent my kid back to school,” John McGovern said.
More than 420 total students in the St. Johns County School District were quarantined at home this week due to close contact with a case and a total of 28 students reported positive COVID-19 tests, according to the district’s weekly report. There are currently seven staff members reporting positive tests and 27 in quarantine at home.
The district spokesperson told News4Jax the school also held a homecoming pep rally before school ahead of its football game with Yulee on Friday night, but that it was held outside in the courtyard.
“Participants and spectators had Covid protocols and attendance was optional,” the spokesperson said.
