HOLMES BEACH – For the first time since Manatee County schools began reporting positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff, Anna Maria Elementary reports no new cases among either students or staff for the week of Sept. 13-17.
AME remains one of only three schools in the county that have had no staff members test positive since the beginning of the school year on Aug. 10. Although the number of positive cases among students is one of the lowest in the county, until last week there had been at least one student case each week with a total of 12 AME students testing positive for COVID-19 since the start of the 2021-22 school year.
Countywide, 2,644 students and staff have reported positive COVID-19 cases since the start of school.
While Manatee County schools continue to report COVID-19 cases, the Florida Department of Health stopped reporting detailed statistics, including cases by zip code, in June. As a result, Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) and the Florida Center for Government Accountability filed a lawsuit on Aug. 30 in Leon County Circuit Court against the department, alleging it violated public records laws by ceasing to provide detailed data about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The department posted detailed daily reports on COVID-19 cases on its website until Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a change in June. The site then began posting weekly information focused more on vaccination rates.
Meanwhile, the subject of mask mandates in Florida schools remains a heated topic. The School District of Manatee County’s mask “mandate” contains an opt-out clause, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already made good on his threat to withhold funds from districts that have mask mandates without an opt-out clause. Since school board members are not paid by the state, the governor’s plan is to withhold an amount of money equal to the salaries of the board members and superintendent’s salaries in the particular district in question.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced last week that she was working with the White House to find a way to support schools that challenge the governor’s order.
“I’m so grateful to President Biden for responding to our appeal for supplemental funding for Florida schools and protecting the rights of our local school districts,” Fried said. “My office and I have been working with the White House to find ways to support school districts that have had their funding threatened by our Governor’s unconstitutional effort to prohibit them from following public health guidelines.
“There is a large pot of money that was allocated to our state through the American Rescue Plan that has not yet been distributed,” Fried said, “and we are working with the Biden Administration to see if this funding could be used to help schools and teachers who are standing up to do the right thing.”
The governor’s ban was blocked on Aug. 27 by Leon County Circuit Court Judge John Cooper, but Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee ruled on Sept. 10 to uphold the governor’s ban on mask mandates in schools.
Currently, 13 counties have defied the governor’s order by implementing mask mandates that do not have an opt-out clause, including Sarasota and Hillsborough locally.
COVID-19 procedures in Manatee County schools
- All students and employees who are sick or who have symptoms will be sent home until they are symptom-free.
- Temperature checks will be taken daily for all employees and randomly for students.
- Reinforce and practice proper handwashing techniques among students and staff.
- Provide and encourage the use of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Deep clean and disinfect schools and school buses daily, or in between uses as needed.
- Make every effort to social distance as much as possible in schools.
- District employees visiting schools, other than their own, must wear masks during the school day.
- Provide plastic shields in elementary classrooms and cafeterias where possible.
- All employees will answer COVID-related questions daily upon arriving at work.
- Limit non-essential visitors and volunteers to school campuses.
- Everyone eligible to be vaccinated is strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.
