CLAY COUNTY — Forty-two schools opened their doors to nearly 40,000 students and 5,000 employees Tuesday morning, and there were smiles all around.

It’s yet another year where COVID-19 hovers over the school district, but for most, they already know how to deal with the virus. The district had a successful year for all intents and purposes a year ago. School grades rose, students excelled against all odds, and COVID-19 outbreaks were minute. The district looks forward to a similar year for the new year.

“I’m feeling apprehensive, but good,” school board chair Mary Bolla said during the first-day tour of Fleming Island Elementary. “Masks are encouraged, strongly encouraged, and we’re hoping that families take that to heart if they’re concerned about their children. I saw a lot of students wearing them and a lot of teachers wearing them too. It’s been a great start to the first day. There are a lot of parents here excited about their children being back in school and...there’s lots of smiles and lots of excitement about this new school year.”

Fleming Island was the first of four first-day tours for the board and chief district staff. Students were catching up with friends; teachers were greeting new and returning students alike; principal Jennifer Collins greeted students by name as they walked past her; and,

parents gave their final goodbyes before the school day started.

Teachers got right to work once students were settled. One class began their day with a LEGO-based exercise while a kindergarten class began their day by filling in a drawing about the first day of school with color. Several students wore masks; some didn’t. Every classroom on the tour was led by a teacher wearing a mask, although masks are encouraged and not required.

There are plenty of COVID-19 related procedures as well, but Collins and her staff made sure to make it seem like part of a standard day. Large classroom hallways are one-way only, marked by small stingray cutouts that point in just one direction.

Stingrays on the sidewalk tell students which way they should be walking while colorful lines on the sidewalk keep them walking straight, so as not to interrupt social distancing that’s happening on campus. Collins is especially excited about the cafeteria’s COVID-19-related policies. So much so that she said they’re here to stay even when COVID-19 isn’t a threat.

“Honestly, a lot of the things we’ve done for COVID-19 have been things like, ‘why didn’t we do this to begin with?’ because for years, we’d say, ‘don’t touch each other, stay in line,’ and now we’ve got dots on the floor,” Collins said. “Why didn’t we think of this before? Even when COVID-19 goes away, we’re using some of the stuff that we’ve done because they’re just best practices and sometimes there’s good that can come out of things like this.”

Collins said the students especially like the way the cafeteria handles social distancing because it makes them feel like they’re at a theme park. Each table is marked with Sharpie marker dots to tell students where they should be sitting. There are lines with dots on the ground to enforce social distancing when in line to get food. There’s a hand sanitizer station when you walk into the cafeteria and another at the start of the line.

Bolla greeted the lunchroom workers and clapped for them, thanking them for what they do, which she also did for the bus drivers earlier that morning. The workers were preparing hamburgers and hot dogs for the first day of school, yet another thing that will surely keep students excited on their first day back.

Superintendent David Broskie said each school is encouraged to develop its own best practices and individualized plans on top of the district-wide ruling in regards to COVID-19 procedures, which is why he was happy to hear about the success of FIE’s cafeteria rules.

“I feel great about this year,” Broskie said. “We have many mitigation strategies in place including individualized school plans, electrostatic sprayers, increased cleaning protocols, hand sanitizer, social distancing as much as possible, and more, just to name a few. We’re looking forward to students returning and receiving a world-class education here in Clay County.”

Broskie said it’s important for schools to have their own individualized safety and sanitization plans because each school has its own needs that need to be addressed. He said that cafeterias, for example, are sized differently from school to school so one cafeteria plan at a school might not work for a different cafeteria at another. Strategies have to be shaped and morphed to fit a school’s own needs, while simultaneously taking into account district-wide “best practices.”

“I feel awesome,” Broskie said. “It’s great to have students back on campus and it’s great to see parents smiling as they drop their kids off, ready to start the school year. These tours are important because we want to show what school is like and be transparent to the public and everyone.

“We’re proud of all our preparation over the summer getting ready to kick the school year off and we’re so proud to get the school year started.”