Leon schools go along with quarantine change
NSF Staff Report
Leon County Superintendent of Schools Rocky Hanna announced the district will follow a newly revamped COVID-19 rule by the state health department but will be “a bit more restrictive” in implementation.
The Florida Department of Health two weeks ago issued a revised emergency rule that gave parents more authority to decide whether children should stay home after being exposed to people who have COVID-19 if the children are asymptomatic.
The updated rule says schools “shall allow parents or legal guardians the authority to choose how their child receives education after having direct contact with an individual that is positive for COVID-19.”
Hanna said Leon County students who have been ordered to quarantine based on exposure to COVID-19 will be allowed to return to school.
“We are going to abide by the emergency rule, as stated, in that children who had previously been on quarantine will be allowed to return back to school. However, during that quarantine period, they will be required to wear a mask. And there will be no exceptions to that,” Hanna said.
The superintendent also said last Monday the district plans to keep in place through October its current mask requirement, which allows exceptions only for medical reasons.
The Leon County district is staying the course despite the Department of Health tightening its rule to try to prevent student mask mandates. The revised rule says that opting out of mask requirements is “at the parent or legal guardian’s sole discretion,” trying to remove wiggle room for districts to require doctor’s notes for exceptions.
Hanna said that more than 1,000 Leon County students have tested positive for COVID-19 already this school year, surpassing the total number of positive cases last year at 815. But Hanna said he is confident the district will revert to a mask-optional policy at the end of October if coronavirus cases continue to wane. Meanwhile, Sarasota County school officials announced last Sunday the district is reverting to a mask-optional policy for students, citing a decline in local COVID-19 cases.
