Public Health experts have warned that coronavirus cases are likely to show up in schools as they reopen. And while some Florida school districts are reporting COVID-19 cases, others are not.
WUSF is compiling reports that come in from official sources, and what they are sharing with student families and school staff when available.
Some school districts, universities, and colleges are making information about cases on their campuses available on their websites. You can find them here:
- State of Florida (county-by-county)
- Hillsborough County Schools
- Pasco County Schools
- Polk County Schools
- Manatee County Schools
- Sarasota County Schools
- University of South Florida
- St. Petersburg College
- Eckerd College
Here’s the latest information:
Sept. 25 - Tampa Bay area
Friday night's football game between Tarpon Springs High School and East Lake High School has been cancelled — but will likely be rescheduled — after a student at Tarpon Springs tested positive for coronavirus, forcing an undisclosed number of members of the team into quarantine. Seven partial classrooms at the high school were also affected.
However, East Lake will still play Friday night, as they'll travel to Gainesville to take on Palatka High School, which was left looking for an opponent for its homecoming game after their original opponent, Clay High School, had to cancel after putting their entire varsity and junior varsity football teams, as well as its varsity and JV volleyball teams, under quarantine due to potential exposure to positive COVID-19 cases.
Other local football games cancelled this week include Steinbrenner vs. Newsome, Lake Region vs. Frostproof, Kathleen vs. Manatee, and Dunedin vs. Gulf. A number of those schools cancelled games scheduled for next week as well.
Sept. 25 - Florida State University System
After scrubbing traditional graduation ceremonies in the spring and summer because of COVID-19, Florida’s 12 state universities also appear unlikely to have regular fall commencement events. The state university system directed schools this week to come up with “alternate” fall commencement plans, which could include such things as online ceremonies.
“Recognizing that health guidelines still limit gatherings at this time, it is prudent for universities to develop alternate plans for fall commencement ceremonies, which include any rescheduled spring or summer commencement plans that may have been changed to the fall,” the university system said in a news release.
“While we understand the disappointment this may cause, universities were creative in their spring and summer commencement festivities, and each of them found ways to celebrate their graduates and their achievements. We are confident that the fall graduates will be equally celebrated.”
- News Service of Florida
Sept. 15 - Pasco County
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Pasco County Schools will begin offering COVID-19 testing to district students and staff at three locations: Land O' Lakes High School, Gulf Middle School, and Pasco Elementary School. The testing will be done by appointment and will not be open to the general public. District officials say results of the tests should be back within 48 hours.
Sept. 15 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools on Tuesday released a list of positive tests reported Sept. 14:
- Palm Harbor Middle School - one student tested positive, seven partial classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- Palm Harbor University High School - one employee, seven partial classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- Countryside High School, Clearwater - one employee, seven classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- St. Petersburg Collegiate High School South - one student, no impact to classrooms or buses
Sept. 15 - University of South Florida
University of South Florida continues regularly reporting positive COVID-19 tests on a website. The student newspaper on the USF St. Petersburg campus, The Crow's Nest, reports that USF's Tampa campus has reported 270 cases, compared to 13 at USFSP and six at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
However, USF's case total remains below that of other Florida universities, with Florida State University leading the way with 839 students and 14 faculty and staff members, as of Sept. 8. FSU was scheduled to begin random surveillance testing of the campus population Sept. 14.
The student newspaper on the USF Tampa campus, The Oracle, reports that Recreation & Wellness shut down all of its indoor facilities over the weekend after six of its 300 student employees tested positive between Sept. 11 and 13. All six of the employees were located in different facilities, including the Rec Center, the FIT, and pools. The Florida Department of Health is conducting contact tracing to identify and contact people who might have been in contact with the employees.
Sept. 14 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools on Monday released a list of positive tests reported Sept. 11:
- Frontier Elementary School, Clearwater - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School, St. Petersburg - one student, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Bauder Elementary School, Seminole - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Carwise Middle School, Palm Harbor - one employee, small group of students affected
- Administration Building - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
Sept. 11 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools on Friday released a list of positive tests reported Sept. 10:
- Osceola Middle School, Seminole - one student, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Curlew Creek Elementary School, Palm Harbor - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Richard O. Jacobsen Tech High School, Seminole - one employee, six classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- Shore Acres Elementary School, St. Petersburg - one employee, one classroom quarantined, plus an additional small group of students impacted
Sept. 10 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools on Thursday released a list of positive tests reported Sept. 9:
- Boca Ciega High School, Gulfport - one student, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Kings Highway Elementary Magnet School, Clearwater - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Clearwater Intermediate School - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- McMullen-Booth Elementary School, Clearwater - two students, two classrooms and a bus quarantined for cleaning
- Douglas Jamerson Elementary School, St. Petersburg - one student and one employee, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Westgate Elementary School, St. Petersburg - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
Sept. 9 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools on Wednesday released a list of positive tests reported between Sept. 5 and Sept. 8:
- Ozona Elementary School, Palm Harbor - one employee, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Tarpon Springs Elementary School - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- East Lake High School, Tarpon Springs - one student, seven classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- Blanton Elementary School, St. Petersburg - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Curtis Fundamental Elementary School, Clearwater - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
Sept. 8 - Sarasota County
Sarasota County has launched its own dashboard, detailing six cases among students in schools as of Sept. 7, including one each at Brentwood, Phillippi Shores, Tuttle and Laurel Nokomis Elementary Schools, and two at Riverview High School. An email to parents in the district said the dashboard would be updated once a day at 2 p.m.
Sept. 8 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools announced Tuesday that the Department of Health is using what it calls "a more surgical selection process" to determine which students need to quarantine, as well as what classrooms or buses may need to be closed off for deep cleaning. According to a release from the district, the new process - which uses information like seating charts and mitigating measures - was used for a case at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg.
Pinellas County Schools also released a list of positive tests reported Sept. 4:
- Highland Lakes Elementary School, Palm Harbor - one employee, no impact to either buses or classrooms
- Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School, St. Petersburg - one student, two classrooms quarantined for cleaning
- Maximo Elementary School, St. Petersburg - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Tarpon Springs Elementary School - one student, one classroom quarantined for cleaning
- Palm Harbor University High School - one student, no impact to either buses or classrooms, but the case caused an unknown number of members of the varsity football team to quarantine
Sept. 1 - Manatee County
Palmetto High School in Manatee County has asked a number of students to go into isolation for 14 days as school officials work to identify those who may have been exposed to someone at the school who had tested positive for COVID-19. While the school district is not releasing a precise number of students affected, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports it's more than 100.
According to an email from Manatee County Schools Communications Director Michael Barber to WUSF, a phone message from Principal Carl Auckerman to the community said an "abnormal number of students being quarantined from campus" Tuesday evening was because the school didn't have up-to-date seating charts of each class.
As a result, health officials could not identify students who had direct exposure to the confirmed case. Most of the students who were sent home were done so out of what Auckerman called "an extreme abundance of caution."
Those students should be allowed to return to school as early as Sept. 14 if they are not showing any COVID-19 related symptoms or awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. They are also allowed to continue taking classes through eLearning.
Sept. 1 - Polk County
According to the Polk County Public Schools dashboard, the county has sent messages to families regarding more than 30 confirmed positive cases at over 20 schools between the start of classes Aug. 24 and Aug. 31.
Charter and private schools are not included in the county reports as those schools are responsible for their own communication procedures.
The Lakeland Ledger reports that the district is working with the Polk County Health Department to figure out who was potentially exposed to a positive case in a school and then determine who needs to be quarantined.
“Potentially exposed students and faculty who are instructed to quarantine are determined on a case-by-case basis after the health department begins its contact tracing process,” Polk County Polk County Health Department spokeswoman Nicole Riley said.
Sept. 1 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools released a report Sept. 1 updating cases around the county that includes data from Aug. 29 - 31.
- Pinellas Park High School - one employee
- Walter Pownall Service Center, a school administration building in Pinellas Park - three employees
- Bardmoor Elementary School, Seminole - one employee
- Clearwater Intermediate School - two employees. Pinellas Co. School officials said four classrooms were quarantined for cleaning.
- Ozona Elementary School, Palm Harbor - one employee
- Boca Ciega High School, Gulfport - one student. Pinellas Co. School officials said three classrooms were quarantined for cleaning.
- Largo High School - one student
- Pinellas Park Elementary School - one student. Pinellas Co. School officials said one classroom was quarantined for cleaning.
August 31 - Hillsborough County
A football player at Hillsborough High tested positive for COVID-19 and several teammates and coaches have gone into quarantine, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The Hillsborough County School District also began publishing a dashboard tracking the number of positive tests, breaking them down both by school and by students and teachers.
August 30 - Polk County
Lake Wales High School, a charter school in Polk County that operates independently of the public school system, decided to stay online only after two COVID-19 cases were reported Saturday, leading an unspecified number of staff to go into quarantine.
August 25 - Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools announced Aug. 25 that three more students had tested positive for COVID-19 at three locations around the county.
- Clearwater High School - one student, no quarantine orders issued as the student was never on campus
- Carwise Middle School, Palm Harbor – one student. Pinellas Co. School officials say the school quarantined seven classrooms under Dept. of Health orders for "deep-cleaning and disinfecting as our protocol requires."
- Pinellas Academy of Math & Science Charter School, Clearwater - one student. Four classrooms were quarantined under Dept. of Health orders for deep-cleaning and disinfecting.
August 24 – Pinellas County
Pinellas County Schools announced Aug. 24 that three students and three employees had tested positive for COVID-19 at five locations around the county.
- Northeast High School, St. Petersburg – one student, under quarantine orders from the Florida Department of Health
- Pinellas Park Elementary School – one student, under quarantine orders
- Carwise Middle School, Palm Harbor – one staff member, self-isolating prior to school starting
- Shore Acres Elementary School, St. Petersburg – one staff member, self-isolating prior to school starting
- Walter Pownall Service Center, a school administration building in Pinellas Park – two staff members self-isolating prior to school starting
August 22 – Manatee High, Bradenton
The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County confirmed “a couple of cases of COVID-19” associated with Manatee High School in Bradenton, according to school district communication with parents and employees Aug. 22. The communication said the people involved “have not been on our campus since the beginning of the week.”
The statement did not provide specifics about who was infected but said a contact tracing investigation was conducted by an epidemiologist determined there were direct exposures identified. The district said the confirmed cases and all students exposed to them confirmed cases have been contacted and will be sent home to isolate for 14 days from the known exposure.
August 21 – Lincoln Memorial Academy, Palmetto
A case of COVID-19 associated with Lincoln Memorial Academy in Palmetto was confirmed by the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County. Direct exposures were identified and “are being contacted and sent home to isolate for 14 days from the date of known exposure, in accordance with CDC and Florida Department of Health protocols,” according to school district communication with parents and employees on Aug. 21.
The confirmed case is also isolated away from school in accordance with those same protocols.
August 19 – Tara Elementary, Bradenton
A couple of cases associated with Tara Elementary in Bradenton were confirmed by the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County. Direct exposures were identified, contacted, and sent home to isolate for 14 days from the date of known exposure, in accordance with CDC and Florida Department of Health protocols, according to school district communication with parents and employees on Aug. 19.
August 19 – Manatee Technical College Main Campus, Bradenton
A case associated with Manatee Technical College Main Campus in Bradenton was confirmed by the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County. Direct exposures were identified, contacted, and sent home to isolate for 14 days from the date of known exposure, in accordance with CDC and Florida Department of Health protocols, according to school district communication with parents and employees on Aug. 19.
The confirmed case was also sent home to isolate in accordance with those same protocols.
August 18 – Manatee County
COVID-19 cases were reported at three Manatee County schools on Aug. 18. Officials from Ballard Elementary in Bradenton and Parrish Community High School notified families and school staff, but did not say how many people were affected at each school – or if the infected persons were students or school employees.
The people who tested positive, and those the Florida Department of Health identified as having direct exposure to them, were asked to isolate at home for 14 days. Portions of both campuses were cleaned with a special disinfectant overnight, and classes resumed Aug. 19.
The Bradenton Herald reported another case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication, a charter school in Bradenton, on Aug. 18. The school notified families and closed portions of its campus for a few days for cleaning.
