COVID-19 concerns as students return to the classroom in St. Johns County

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Monday is the first day of school in St. Johns County, but some parents are sharing concerns after seeing the rise in COVID-19 cases in nearby Duval County, which began school last week.

Instead of talking about packing books, folders and pencils, a mother of three St. Johns County School District students, Heather Luing, said the conversation was all about staying safe from COVID-19.

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“It’s going to be very hard to go to school when your biggest concern is not bringing home a life-threatening illness to your family,” Luing said.

St. Johns County School District will begin the year with optional face masks, no daily temperature checks and desk dividers mostly gone; this comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise. Parents like Luing are making the last-minute switch from Hickory Creek Elementary to St. Johns Virtual School for her two youngest.

“I’d like to see them go back to using the proven strategies that they used last year,” Luing said.

Meanwhile, the first week of Duval County Public Schools tallied up 82 COVID-19 cases districtwide — 16 staff members and 66 students, with 61 of those being elementary.

Dr. Mobeen Rathore, chief of pediatric infectious disease at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, sent out a tweet regarding DCPS, saying the first week was definitely an undercount and that “parents be aware your child may be infected.”

As for Luing, she hopes there will be a change with regard to the lack of mask mandates, among other protections at St. Johns County schools.

“It’s not unusual for schools to make decisions to keep other kids safe, so it seems entirely bizarre that the school district is not making those choices in this case,” Luing said.

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Action News Jax reached out to the St. Johns County School District for comment on how it will keep students safe and if there is a thought of changing to a mask mandate. We were told by a spokesperson the protocols are in place for the start of school. The superintendent sent out a message, saying in part: “I highly recommend the use of face masks as the school year begins.”

Action News Jax also reached out to DCPS for comment but has not heard back.

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