Nearly 6,000 Hillsborough Students In Isolation Or Quarantine

Tampa FL

16 August, 2021

5:05 PM

Description

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — It's proving to be an inauspicious start to the new school year. With 5,999 students and 316 employees in isolation or quarantine as of 7 a.m. Monday, the Hillsborough County School Board has scheduled an emergency school board meeting Wednesday. At the meeting, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., the school board will discuss the latest impacts of the coronavirus surge and the best way to mitigate its spread, including the possibility of mandatory face coverings for all students and staff. Isolation is for those who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, while quarantine is for those who have had close contact with someone with a positive case. The board will allow for one hour of public comment at the meeting, at 901 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. According to the Hillsborough County School District COVID-19 Dashboard, 929 students and staff have tested positive for the coronavirus as the second week of the school year begins. Those who have tested positive include 35 employees at the school district office in downtown Tampa. Schools with the most cases of staff testing positive are Pepin Academies and Roosevelt Elementary, with 13 each. Schools with the most cases of students testing positive are Pepin Academies in Tampa and Riverview (34 cases), Plant High School (15 cases), Newsome High and Mabry Elementary (13 cases each), FishHawk Creek Elementary School and Waterset Charter School (12 cases each), Durant High School, Stowers Elementary and Riverview High School (10 cases each), Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science, Crestwood Elementary School and Mulrennan Middle School (nine cases each), Strawberry Crest High School, Hunter's Green Elementary and Freedom High School (eight cases each), Blake High School, Valrico Lake Advantage Academy, Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary, Lutz K-8, Gaither High School and Claywell Elementary School (seven cases each). See related stories: U.S. Education Secretary To Support Schools With Mask MandatesParents Set For FL Mask Mandate Showdown As 1st School Day NearsFlorida Posts Record Number Of New Coronavirus Cases: CDCCDC Recommends Mask In All Schools; DeSantis Will Fight MandateDeSantis To School Boards: You Better Not Mandate Masking Kids