CLAY COUNTY – The new school year is about to start and the school district has modified its Smart Restart Plan to ensure the school year is safe and full of learning for county students.

This plan includes social distancing, mask recommendations and hand-washing, all in an effort to minimize COVID-19 exposure and outbreaks. It’s similar to the 2020-21 school year plan and that plan was effective at preventing outbreaks on school district property.

Over the past year, many changes, guidance and opinions regarding COVID-19 have existed,” Superintendent David Broskie said in the plan’s introductory letter. “As a school district, our number one priority will always be the safety and well-being of our students and staff. With the success of our 2020-21 school year and the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, the district has revised the Smart Start Restart Plan to include some best practices learned from this past year, coupled with practical measures, to move forward into a Phase II health and safety approach to the 2021-22 school year.”

One thing stressed is each school has an individual plan created by the school’s leadership team to ensure that the standard proceedings of school such as arrival, dismissal, lunch, hallway movement and, of course, classroom education, are safe and secure. Each school will send in its own plan on Aug. 10 and each must address set aspects of a standard student’s day.

Each school must maximize table spacing in the cafeteria and each must feature assigned seating alongside staggered arrival and dismissal times. In the learning spaces, classrooms must also be spaced appropriately alongside assigned seating and the removal of unused and excess furniture.

The same procedures will be put in place for larger learning spaces such as band rooms, chorus rooms, media centers, locker rooms, gyms and computer labs, as well as transition spaces such as bus loops, parent pick-ups and bike racks.

“Prior to sending children to school via the bus, walking or parent drop-off, it is highly recommended that families and staff take temperature daily prior to coming to school or work,” the plan reads. “Students and adults should also screen themselves for respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath prior to coming to school each day.”

The school district advises those with a fever or any of the virus symptoms to stay home. One of the hottest topics around the nation’s education right now is masks, and Clay County will join the majority of other school districts in Florida that will follow a “recommended but not mandatory” stance in regards to face coverings.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a new order that would punish districts that make masks mandatory lose some of their federal funding.

The Clay County School District has maintained its “recommended but not mandatory” stance for months, so DeSantis’ order isn’t a threat.

“For the 2021-2022 school year, the use of face coverings by students and staff will be recommended and highly encouraged, but not mandated, when social distancing cannot be maintained or in mixed groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals,” according to the plan. “The use of face coverings, while objectionable to some, continues to be recommended by the Department of Health and the CDC as a primary means to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

One important thing that likely will affect every school is the use of a “Monitored Campus” model, where students, staff and a limited number of volunteers and visitors are permitted on campus. This means no deliveries are allowed for lunch, and parents will not be able to eat lunch with their child.

The school district said each school will continue to utilize electrostatic sprayers to disinfect facilities throughout each day, custodial staff will move through common travel spaces to spray and disinfect high-touch items such as handles, railings and more. There will also be hand sanitizer stands in the main office of each school, classrooms, health rooms, media centers, gymnasiums, cafeteria entrances and other commonly-used spaces.

There will only be two student learning options for the school year, unlike last year which included several options. The first option is the traditional brick and mortar school experience and the second is the online Clay Virtual Academy, which provides online education for all grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

The Smart Restart Plan ends with a statement on Broskie’s superintendent authority. It says due to the ever-changing conditions resulting from the pandemic and the unforeseen changes this pandemic could cause to the implementation of the school Smart Restart plan, the Superintendent of Schools is “authorized to make any adjustments necessary, consistent with the structure and intent of this plan, to protect the health, safety and welfare of Clay County School District Schools’ students and staff and the citizens of Clay County.”

The Smart Restart School Reopening Plan will be sun-setted on June 30, 2022, unless amended, extended, or renewed by the Clay County School Board prior to that date.

“In this updated policy, you will continue to see our continued and revised efforts, measures and protocols to promote a safe and healthy learning environment,” Broskie said. “As a school community, we cannot do this work without the support of our students and our parents. Your partnership in supporting the health of our students and staff is paramount as we return to a more normal school setting for the 2021-22 school year.”