School staff infected others by coming to work sick this summer, Hillsborough officials confirm

Hillsborough schools staff already impacted by COVID-19

Briona Arradondo reports

TAMPA, Fla. - A day after the Hillsborough County school board voted to delay the first day of school and approve a reopening plan, a school board member is sharing concerns after finding out the district had 206 cases so far.

Karen Perez of District 6 shared on Facebook:

“I just received this information this morning and feel it’s my responsibility to disclose…To date, we have had 206 positive cases in Hillsborough County Public Schools. Of these cases, 5 have been students. The majority of cases are from individuals who have come to work sick instead of reporting properly. This before we even open our schools to students.... now understand why this WILL impact your students and families.”

Perez shared her hesitations for reopening the schools with FOX 13.

“We haven’t even opened our schools yet. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to look like when we do,” said Perez.

The Hillsborough school district confirmed the information to FOX 13, saying the positive cases are over the last four months. A district spokesperson sent FOX 13 the following statement detailing how they are handling cases.

10% of COVID-19 cases in Hillsborough were age 5-19

Justin Matthews reports

“In response to your inquiry about Board Member Perez' Facebook post, I can confirm as of early last week, we have had 206 positive cases in Hillsborough County Public Schools. Of these, 5 cases have been students. The majority of cases are from individuals who have come to work sick instead of reporting properly. Our district has 235 traditional schools and a number of other sites where our employees report to work over the summer.”

The statement went on to say, “In each case, our district employs contact tracing to identify any other employees that may have been exposed to that employee. Our teams disinfect all areas where the affected employee worked, using an approved chemical and a fogging mist machine to deep clean the area. As soon as this process is finished, workers may return back to the area. No school has been closed due to any positive COVID cases this summer.”

The statement ended with, “This type of cleaning includes anything from one office space to a wing of a building where the individual may have worked. In each case, we have communicated with any employee that may have been impacted. In some cases, these employees who tested positive had not been in the building for two weeks prior to testing positive.”

9 weeks of online-only learning still option for Hillsborough schools

Briona Arradondo reports

When asked by school board member Tamara Shamburger about guaranteeing the safety of students and staff when schools reopen, Superintendent Addison Davis said Thursday, “We will work hard as we can to create safety measures along the way, but I can’t guarantee that if we social distance, if we wear facial coverings, that someone will not absorb COVID-19.”

The district urges staff to be responsible and stay home when sick. Perez said she wants families to know how the virus could impact them this school year. She said seeing the information about district cases confirms her support for e-learning for the first nine weeks.

“It not only validates, it tells me that this is really what we need to do,” said Perez.

Perez said she also wants teachers to receive training on COVID-19 and share that information with students. The superintendent said during the Thursday school board meeting that any training like that will have to be worked out with the teachers association.