JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ed White High School on Wednesday became the third Duval County public school this year to shift to online learning due to cases of COVID-19, according to a news release from the district.
Students have been told not to come to school on Thursday and instead log on to their fifth period class through Microsoft Teams. Duval County Public Schools said this is “because of the A-B schedule.”
Ed White will remain in online instruction through Sept. 8 and plans to return to normal instruction Sept. 9.
Should a student not have their laptop or other school technology needed to log on from home, parents are asked to contact the school Thursday.
All extracurricular activities, athletics and art events at the school are suspended until Sept. 9.
“Not happy because I wanted to be playing a football game tomorrow, but it’s all canceled,” said Michael Watson, a freshman who plays football at Ed White.
Watson said he understands the need to keep everyone safe, but he’s worried about what these canceled practices and games could mean for his future.
“It impacted me because I want to be playing football again. I’m trying to get scholarships and stuff for college,” Watson said.
Denise Brown, whose daughter is a freshman at Ed White, said she got an email from the principal notifying parents about the pause on in-person classes.
“My main concern was when I called the school and I asked ‘Was it due to COVID? Was the cases very high, and if so, why wasn’t any parents notified?’” Brown said.
As of Wednesday evening, the district’s COVID-19 dashboard showed 50 cases at the school, including 46 students and four staff members.
Brown said she wasn’t aware of those cases, and at this point, she doesn’t feel comfortable sending her daughter back to school.
“All Duval County schools should be shut down at this time until this is back under control,” Brown said.
Brown said her 14-year-old daughter caught COVID-19 last year and spent a week in the hospital. Because of complications, Brown said, she hasn’t been able to walk on her own since then.
Districtwide, according to the dashboard, more than 1,750 cases have been reported among students and staff since the first day of school on Aug. 10.