NAPLES, Fla. — Public school districts in Southwest Florida are changing their COVID-19 protocols after new guidelines announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis this week.
Under the guidelines, the amount of time a student will have to miss school after testing positive for COVID-19 will be cut in half.
DeSantis reduced the isolation period from 10 days to five days, and Collier County Public Schools as well as Lee Schools say they’re following suit.
Chad Oliver, the director of communications for Collier Schools, said the district currently follows the five-day isolation period for a student who test positive.
In December, the Centers for Disease Control also said COVID-positive individuals need to isolate for just five days.
Oliver told us that Collier Schools “currently follows the five-day period consistent with the Florida Department of Health and the CDC.”
As of Friday afternoon, Lee Schools’ website showed that students needed to stay home for 10 days after a positive test. However, spokesman Rob Spicker said the school district is in the process of updating its protocols based on the Governor’s new guidance.
Jamie MacPhee, the mother of two elementary students in the Lee County school system, told us she was happy with the changes.
“Ten days is a lot of time to miss school,” MacPhee said. “It’s almost impossible to catch up, between a working mother, working parents, and kids not going to school. If you have to quarantine twice, it’s 20 days. That’s almost a month of school.”
MacPhee said she trusts parents to do what’s best for their kids — including keeping them home longer than the five days if they’re still sick.
“I’m huge proponent letting parents decided what best for their kids,” she added. “They know better than anybody.”
The new 5-day isolation period recommended by the Governor also applies to teachers and children in daycares.
