There have been 1,187 reported COVID cases at Duval County Public Schools since the start of the school year, but that number does not include cases at the district’s public charter schools. COVID cases district-wide are well over 1,200 when including the numbers reported by the handful of charter schools that share their data.
A spokesperson for Duval County Public Schools said the district’s data reporting software is not compatible with that of charter schools, and they’re not required to share their number of cases with the district or the public.
Among the five charters that either post data online or provided case counts to WJCT News on Friday, there have been more than 50 COVID cases since the start of the school year three weeks ago.
The county’s 35 charter schools are managed by their own boards, not the Duval County School Board. The result is a patchwork of COVID policies, reporting practices and mask mandates across the district. Not every school’s policy is readily available.
At River City Science Academy in Mandarin, the website says the school will follow all policies of Duval County Public Schools. However, a receptionist at the front desk said Friday the school is not following the district’s new mask mandate for students. River City Science Academy parent Rebecka Croft said she hasn’t seen teachers following Superintendent Diana Greene’s adult mask mandate either.
“After the first few days of school we were all kind of shocked — me and several other parents — to see that many of the teachers weren't wearing masks,” Croft said. “It was really disappointing.”
Croft said she receives a weekly update from the school that includes COVID testing positivity rates, but not the number of cases. Croft said she’s hopeful Friday’s court ruling restricting Gov. DeSantis from blocking mask mandates will encourage charter schools like hers to increase COVID safety regulations.
“I have been, more so, pushing just for the safety in the classroom with the masks and more of the prevention of spreading COVID,” Croft said.“With the order coming down today, we’re hoping that they will change their policy over the weekend.”
An administrator at River City Science Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another school, Seacoast Charter Academy, has had five cases since the start of the school year, according to administrator Marla Stremmel. This number is not posted on the school’s website.
The administrator said the school is following guidance from the Florida Department of Education, which allows exposed students to return to in-person classes four days after exposure with a negative test, or seven days after exposure with no symptoms. But like other charter schools, they are not mandated to share the number of cases with Duval County Public Schools.
“It’s like any illness,” Stremmel said. “It’s between us and the families.”
Charter schools can report their COVID case counts on their individual websites independently from DCPS, but few have done so. One school, KIPP Jacksonville, had a COVID data dashboard last year, but has not launched one this year due to staffing issues at the start of the school year, according to spokesperson Zac West.
“As soon as we can put the tracker back up, we will,” West said.
He said there have been 32 cases on KIPP’s campus so far this school year. Like all the schools who responded for this story, KIPP notifies parents of students who may have been exposed to the virus in school.
San Jose Schools is one of the few charter school organizations maintaining a public COVID data dashboard. According to its website, there have been 13 reported COVID cases across its two in-person schools.
Another school, Wayman Academy of the Arts, said Friday it has had one case of COVID among its 250 students.
Wayman Principal Marla Almon said while students are not required to wear masks, it is encouraged multiple times a day.
“We practice safety checks throughout the day, three times a day,” Almon said. "The students sanitize their shields, wash their hands as well as sanitize their hands, and (we’re) just making sure that their masks are covering their mouth and nose properly.”
For some parents, like Rebecka Croft at River City Science Academy, switching out of a charter school because of safety concerns is her last resort.
“I love everything about that school…I’ve never been a believer in just abandoning ship and leaving somewhere because I disagree with policy,” Croft said. “I really am hoping that they will change their policy.”
Contact Claire Heddles at cheddles@wjct.org, or on Twitter at @claireheddles.
