Boca Raton Community High Reports 47 Cases.
Nearly 800 Cases Added In Schools Since Winter Break.
Long Planned In-Service Day Starts Second Semester Amid School Surge.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — The Palm Beach County School District is closed for students on Monday as the teachers and staffers prepare for the start of the second semester. The second half of the year is expected to bring an additional 15,000 kids to in-person learning, far fewer than district officials had expected but enough to cause concern among teachers contacting BocaNewsNow.com.
At issue, a lack of space to keep students six feet apart in most classrooms. There was no issue with just a few kids in each class, but once many classrooms start reaching the ten student mark, there becomes a space problem.
“This is like a real world math problem that there is no way to solve,” said a middle school teacher in the Boca Raton area. “You can’t keep kids 6 feet away from each other, and in my classroom even 3 feet away from each other, if you don’t have the space. We don’t have the space.”
Even with an additional 15,000 students, the school district itself remains largely in ‘remote’ mode. Roughly 52 percent of the student population, according to numbers obtained from the school district, will continue to learn from home for the rest of the school year.
The Palm Beach County School District has added at least 775 COVID-19 cases since school resumed after the winter holiday. That brings the total to 2,043 as of Sunday evening, January 31st. The split: 1183 students and 860 employees have tested positive since mid-September.
Among schools of note in South Palm Beach County:
Boca Raton Community High School reports 47 COVID cases.
Boca Raton Community Middle School reports 25 COVID cases.
Boynton Beach Community High reports 14 COVID cases.
Calusa Elementary reports 25 COVID cases.
Del Prado Elementary reports 15 COVID cases.
Don Estridge High Tech Middle reports 29 COVID cases.
Eagles Landing Elementary reports 12 COVID cases.
Morikami Park Elementary reports 12 COVID cases.
Olympic Heights Community High reports 27 COVID cases.
Omni Middle School reports 22 COVID cases.
Plumosa School of the Arts reports 19 COVID cases.
Sunrise Park Elementary reports 15 COVID cases.
Verde K-8 reports 16 COVID cases.
Waters Edge Elementary reports 20 COVID cases.
West Boca Raton Community High School reports 16 COVID cases.
Whispering Pines Elementary reports 19 COVID cases.
We note, and the school district acknowledges, that the official numbers are often three days behind “reality” as it takes several days to confirm cases with the Florida Department of Health.
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