Cases reach record highs in Brevard Public Schools; School Board won't discuss COVID-19
COVID-19 cases have reached new heights in Brevard County school district as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads throughout schools.
In August, cases had peaked with 784 students and staff infected from Aug. 24-26. On Friday the district announced that 978 students and staff have been infected with the virus from Tuesday to Thursday. BPS releases COVID-19 data twice weekly.
Misty Belford, Brevard County School Board Chair, said the number of illnesses among staff and students resembles those of the fall.
“Obviously our positive cases are up significantly,” Belford said. “We're not seeing people out as long because of the change in the CDC guidelines, and we're not seeing as many people quarantined. So that is, I guess, a plus. Thankfully, it doesn't appear that this (Omicron) is as severe (as past forms of COVID-19), so we're not seeing a lot of people hospitalized and in ICUs, which is a blessing.”
Belford added that hospitalizations tend to lag after case numbers, so the illnesses may yet get worse. But staff absences are taking their toll on the district.
“We're seeing similar challenges (to spring semester),” Belford said. “Obviously, with a lot of people sick, we have a lot of people missing.”
Brevard Federation of Teachers President Anthony Colucci said he hadn't heard of any "dire situations" in schools, but that teachers working long hours and filling into each other has become the norm this year.
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"We were at a school today and they had said there were four teachers out," Colucci said. "That's pretty high considering we already have staff shortages. But really, so far I haven't haven't heard much. it's almost like everybody's just used to it at this."
So far, when the School Board meets again next Tuesday — its first meeting since before holiday break last month — COVID-19 mitigation isn’t on the agenda. Belford, the swing vote whose favor of masks early in fall brought the board to mandate masks for students and staff despite threats from the state to withhold board member salaries, said most COVID-19 decisions are in the hands of the district.
“We can't require masks,” Belford said. “The state has pretty much outlined our quarantine response. So operationally, the is superintendent handling things. We’re trying to discourage any large gatherings of students and things like that, but those are all really operational decisions that superintendent and his team are handling.”
Other Florida school districts have implemented mitigation efforts such as mask mandates for staff – allowed under Florida law – that BPS has not. But the district could put those in place without board approval, Belford said.
School attendance boundary changes will be on the board's agenda Tuesday's meeting. School boundaries that will move include:
Apollo Elementary and Imperial Estates Elementary
Heritage High School and Bayside High School
Meadowlane Primary Elementary School and Discovery Elementary School
Satellite High School, DeLaura Middle and Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High
Meadowlane Primary Elementary to Discovery Elementary
Delaura Middle and Satellite High to Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr High
Heritage High to Bayside High
Apollo Elementary to Imperial Estates Elementary
The changes will take place during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years due to "significant growth anticipated in the area south of U.S. Route 192 and west of Interstate 95." Some children will remain at their schools via an Education Location Option, a process which allows students to attend a school they aren't zoned for, and application fees have been waived for students affected by the changes
Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786 or bgallion@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard County Public School Board won't address record COVID-19 cases
