Keys public schools welcome all students who want to come back to the classroom

Public schools in the Florida Keys fully reopened Monday to students who wanted to return to the classroom.

With face masks, markers denoting proper social distancing, many kids eating in classrooms instead of cafeterias and a host of other safety protocols, there were plenty of kids on campus, school district officials said.

Exact totals weren’t available at the end of the day Monday, said Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County School District.

“The schools were full today,” said Monroe County Schools Superintendent Theresa Axford. “I was at Gerald Adams, Poinciana School and Horace O’Bryant. All the kids have their masks on. Everybody is six-foot social distancing. The markings in the schools are amazing.”

Also, lockers aren’t being used at this time. Masks must be worn at all times, unless the student is eating or taking an adult-approved mask break.

Students are seated six feet apart and facing the same direction. Hand-washing will be done several times a day.

Axford said she witnessed protocols being followed.

“What I saw was really gratifying, that the teachers and the students are really embracing this,” Axford said. “I think they can be safe. The kids have their masks on, even the little ones.”

Monroe schools began gradually returning kids to the classroom on Aug. 31.

Under the plan, students in grades pre-K through 5 will be in school five days a week with their assigned teacher. Students in grades 6 through 12 will return on a part-time basis and attend virtual school on days they are not in the classroom.

Jamie Mattingly’s two daughters, Kamryn, 5, and Kaya, 7, returned to school last week, Kamryn to kindergarten and Kaya to second grade, both at Poinciana Elementary in Key West.

“They both love it. They’re super happy to be back actually in class, to be around kids and to be around their teachers,” Mattingly said. “They’ve been loving it.”

Mattingly said she privately messaged their teachers to ask about how they feel about the safety protocols in the schools and was satisfied with their responses.

“My kids wear their masks and they tend to behave anyway,” Mattingly said.

Faith Kaminsky, of Key West, is keeping her 11-year-old son, Harrison, at home to do virtual learning for the next four weeks. He attends a private school in Broward and lives part time with his mother in the Keys.

“I personally am worried just in general,” Kaminsky said Monday. “It just didn’t seem worth it to me. We’ve both been living down here long enough to see what’s going on in Broward. If it were here, I’d probably let him do it.”

Kaminsky said, “Socialization is not worth the health risks.”

Bob Eadie, director of the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County, said he was encouraged by the declining numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Keys as public school students returned to face-to-face learning.

“We continue to see a trend that is positive for us,” Eadie said Monday during a county emergency management meeting.

But he urged caution not only as students go back to the classroom, but also as health officials wait to see if the busy Labor Day weekend affected coronavirus numbers in the island chain.

“It will be another week before we see if the influx of people into the Keys is having any impact,” he said.

On Monday, there were eight new reported cases of COVID-19, bringing the total of known cases to 1,787, with 20 deaths.

Reporter David Goodhue contributed to this report.