NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – Most Florida students began their Thanksgiving break Tuesday afternoon, set to return to class Monday. The break comes as instances of COVID-19 are becoming more frequent in the school communities.
At Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, a school that was forced to temporarily move all students to virtual learning earlier this year, six new student cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday.
Those cases added to the 19 reported across the district, making Tuesday the eighth instance in the month of November in which 10 or more DCPS virus cases were reported in a single day.
On Tuesday, St. Johns County School District posted the weekly update to its COVID-19 dashboard, normally updated Fridays, showing 73 students and 24 staff were positive for COVID-19, the most of any previous report.
Clay County School District also reported its highest COVID-19 totals of the academic year so far, as 27 students and eight staff members have tested positive over the previous week.
Students are set to return to classrooms Monday, the same day by which Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran promised to release an updated emergency order for school districts, as the original July 6 order expires with the fall semester.