The coronavirus pandemic continues to have an effect on schools in northeast Florida.
This week, half of a sixth-grade class at Gilbert Middle School in Duval County had to switch to virtual learning because of an outbreak.
Parents are worried about Thanksgiving gatherings and what they might mean when everyone returns.
There were seven cases at the school, all of them staff members.
Rolline Sullivan has four children in Duval Schools and this summer, she helped create the Duval Schools Pandemic Solutions Team, a social media group of more than 3,600 parents, teachers and stakeholders calling for stricter safety measures.
“We have an open dialogue for parents and teachers, Sullivan said. “And that’s one of their concerns is that, you know, sometimes with less of a warning, their kids have to come home, and they’re quarantined. And sometimes they don’t even get the call, when they’re kids can come back.”
Parents in the group say communication about positive cases has been slow.
“I think there’s a lot of fear from parents that people are going to be traveling, going out of town, going out of state, maybe even traveling overseas,” Sullivan said. “And when they come back, they may not be truthful, as far as, you know, quarantine themselves, you know, we still kind of have that policy that if you travel, you should let people know.”
Several local school districts are telling families ahead of the break to follow the CDS guidelines for Thanksgiving.