How Manatee and Sarasota schools are planning for school during a pandemic
BRADENTON, Fla. - At the Manatee County School District, a team is preparing to track down and eliminate COVID-19 from district sites once school starts on Monday, August 17.
"Welcome to the District Operation Center, otherwise known as the DOC," said Kevin Chapman, the director of strategic planning and district initiatives at the district.
Chapman helped form a team of school leaders and school nurses, along with their safety and security sector. They'll join with the Manatee County Health Department.
When COVID cases pop up at any district site, they'll be ready to track cases as they organize cleanings of buildings and getting district sites back ready for learning.
"We will make real-time rapid decisions to make sure that students and staff are safe, if a case like that happens in our school," said Chapman.
An epidemiologist from the Department of Health will start contact tracing.
"It's a vital step in keeping our schools and classrooms safe and secure and really reassure the families in Manatee County that we are doing everything we can to make sure their students and our staff are as safe as possible," said Chapman.
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In Sarasota County, the district will have two extra weeks to prepare for the return of students. School there starts on August 31.
"We have a crisis response team at every school and also here at the district," said assistant superintendent Dr. Laura Kingsley.
Kingsley said they're monitoring what's happening at schools across the s tate and even the world.
"We are paying attention to the things that cause them to have issues, and where it’s been successful," she said.
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Dr. Kingsley said contact training will be let up to the Sarasota County School District. That's why she's imploring families to instill lessons of hand washing, social distancing and mask wearing with their children.
"We don’t want to play around with this, we want to ensure that it’s up to them to keep themselves safe, to keep their families safe and to keep their teachers safe and their peers," she added.