Nikki Ross|The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Despite a spike in local COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant — and hospitalizations among children nationwide — Volusia and Flagler school districts returned to school as planned this week.
Volusia students resumed classes Tuesday while Flagler returns Wednesday.
"We are reminding families if they are sick, to stay home,"said Volusia County School District spokeswoman Kelly Schulz in an emailed statement."We have PPE available at all schools and district offices."
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Jason Wheeler, spokesman for the Flagler County School District,echoed Schulz's statement.
"We are not pushing any start dates at this time," Wheeler said in an emailed statement. "As things stand right now, Flagler Schools continues to operate as normal and we are taking the same precautions."
But some parents, like Palm Coast motherDanyella Price, areuneasy about sending their kids back to the classroom.
"Everyone has been together for the holidays and with the COVID spiking, I'm nervous," Price said.
Price has two children, ages 13 and 8,in the Flagler County school district. The only person vaccinated in their household is Price's mother, who she said has "serious health issues."
"I’m afraid that if one of my kids catches it or is exposed, it cannot only endanger my children but also my mom," Price said.
As of Dec. 17, 1,164 students and 132 staff members in Flagler County Schoolshad tested positive for COVID-19 this school year, according to the district's COVID-19 dashboard.
In Volusia County Schools, 2,001 students and 495 staff members had tested positive, according to the district's COVID-19 dashboard.
National nurses group pushes for online learning
Health-care systems nationwideare reporting record hospitalizations among children amid a coronavirus surge driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant.From Dec. 22 to 28, an average of 378 children 17 and younger were admitted per day to hospitals with the coronavirus, a 66% increase from the week before, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Dec. 30.
The previous high over the course of the pandemic was in early September, when child hospitalizations averaged 342 per day, the CDC said.
National Nurses United, the nation's largest union and professional organization of registered nurses,said it's still unknown how COVID-19 impacts children, especially long-term.
"What we do know is that children can be infected and can transmit the virus to others," NNU said in a press release."Bringing people together in enclosed spaces, without the robust public health infrastructure nurses have called for since the beginning of this pandemic, will undoubtedly increase the spread of the virus, impacting our children, their families, their caregivers, teachers and other school workers, and ultimately our communities."
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration expanded theemergency use authorization of a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to include youths 12 to 15.
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NNU on Monday urged all school districts and policy makers to make remote learning an option for families who don't want their children returning to in-person learning.
“We always advise people to practice physical distancing in order to avoid infection, but schoolchildren are actually required to gather in large groups every day,” said Martha Kuhl, a pediatric registered nurse and secretary-treasurer of NNU, in a press release. “The responsible thing to do to protect them is to provide an alternative to in-person school through remote learning until we get this surge under better control.”
Volusia County offers Volusia Online Learning and Flagler County offers iFlagler Virtual School. But those programs are not being pushed by either district for the spring semester and enrollment was closed for both districts as of Tuesday.
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Glad to beback
While some are nervous about returning to school, many parents in Volusia and Flagler counties are ready to get their kids back in the classroom this week.
Bronwyn Cornett, who has threechildren — ages 19, 15 and 10 — in the Volusia County School District, said she was feeling better than ever abouther kids going back to school on Tuesday.
The entire family, who are allunvaccinated,contracted COVID-19 the week before Christmas. They all experienced mild flu- and cold-like symptoms and, aside from a lingering tiredness, are back to normal.
"I feel like we can breath a little bit," Cornett said. "I'm pretty confident about sending them back mask-free now."
This is the second time her husband and 15-year-old daughter have tested positive for the virus. They both contracted the virus for the first timein the summer of 2020. Health experts say the omicron variant has a much higher chance of reinfection than previous strains.
Palm Coast mother Monica Johnson said she has no problems sending her children, 13 and 14, back to school Wednesday.
"I know there's a possibility they might get sick but they can get sick doing anything," she said. "It can happen anywhere, anytime, so going to school is no different."
None of their immediate family is vaccinated and her two children tested positive for COVID-19 last school year with mild symptoms.
"It's always in the back of your mind, but it's really no more a worry thanthem getting meningitis," Johnson said. "If it happens, I'll take care of them and get treatment, but I won't let that run my life or theirs."
Celina Tabor and John Bacon with USA Today contributed to this report.
Nikki Ross covers K-12 education, health and COVID-19 for theDaytona BeachNews-Journal.She can be reached at nikki.ross@news-jrnl.com or follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife.
