RISING: Now 426 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Palm Beach County Schools

OFFICIALS: Parents Continue To Send Send Sick Kids To School

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — The Palm Beach County School District added 27 COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total official count to 426. That number, however, is lower than reality. BocaNewsNow.com is aware of several confirmed cases that have been shared with parents at specific schools but not yet added to the school district’s dashboard.

There are officially 234 student infections and 192 employee infections in the school system.

School District Officials tell BocaNewsNow.com that a major problem continues to be parents sending children to school who are displaying “clear signs of COVID-19 infections.” Those children are immediately sent to a school nurse who places the child in isolation until the parent or guardian returns to the school.

“This is a real problem countywide,” said a school district administrator, “but we are seeing it a lot in South Palm Beach County, like Boca and Delray, where kids have told nurses that their parents knew they didn’t feel well but that staying home wasn’t an option.”

In one case, according to a school district source, a child told a staff member, “Mommy said she had to play tennis so I had to go to school.” That child was immediately quarantined in school.

In one case, according to a school district source, a child told a staff member, “Mommy said she had to play tennis so I had to go to school.” That child was immediately quarantined in school.

Among South Palm Beach County schools with growing issues: Calusa Elementary, (12 cases), Boca Raton Community High School (11 cases), Whispering Pines Elementary (8 cases), Polo Park Middle School in Wellington (8 cases).

Roughly one quarter of the school district’s students population has returned for “in person” learning. Roughly three quarters of the school district’s 180,000 student body continues to learn from home.

The Palm Beach County School District has twice initiated robocalls to 180,000 families to remind them to keep sick children home, the most recent just days ago.

We will resume publishing the list of each school and its infection count on Monday.