Polk schools welcome students back to campus

DAVENPORT, Fla. - Kids came back to a whole new world when they returned to class in Polk County on Monday. For tens of thousands of students, it was their first day back to school since March, when classes were canceled because of COVID-19. 

Polk kids, like others across the state, began e-learning at home.

Susan Rodriguez gave her kids last-minute advice right before she dropped them off.

“I told them they have to wash their hands,” she told FOX 13. “They have to use their hand sanitizer. They have to wear their mask.”

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There seem to be new rules for everything, including parents.

At Davenport Elementary, parents can no walk their kids into their classrooms. They can’t just meander into the office anymore either. From now on, only one parent is allowed in at a time.

Teachers have to change the way they do things as well. They used to open the door for car riders, and frequently gave students welcome hugs. Not anymore.

Between classes, teachers are supposed to use sanitizer to diligently wipe down any areas that kids may have touched, like desktops and the backs of chairs.

“We have done everything we could to ensure that we are ready for today,” said Davenport Elementary principal Shannon Brown.

Brown says the building itself has been triple sanitized, once by the construction company that has been modernizing it, once by an outside cleaning company, and then again by her custodians.