JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — School leaders with Duval County Public Schools say they're already feeling the impacts of the omicron variant just two days back from break.
According to the Florida Department of Health, 27 percent of those tested in Duval have the virus. Already, there have been bus delays due to a shortage of drivers, with several sidelined by COVID.
DCPS leaders started new COVID safety measures Tuesday due to the spike. Employees working with students or who can't social distance have to wear a mask. Field trips are suspended for January, and the capacity at events is limited to 75 percent.
A district spokesperson said under Florida law, public school districts can't require face masks for students, but the district strongly encourages students to wear one.
Nina Perez, who has a three-year-old daughter, said the changes are a good start, but not enough to make her feel safe to enroll her daughter in Pre-K.
"She loves learning," she said. "She wants to go to pre-K. She wants to play with other children, and I want her to play and learn with other children without having to constantly worry that I'm putting her in danger," Perez said.
Perez said she and her husband planned to send their daughter to Pre-K at the start of the new year. The spike in COVID cases changed that, though.
"We ended up just making the decision recently to delay and to just wait it out and to see because we were so scared," she said.
She said she doesn't feel like there are enough COVID safety measures in place in schools, and across the state to protect her daughter, who isn't old enough to get vaccinated.
“I'm left on my own. I have to kind of figure out how to make sure my kid gets social interaction for her development, which is something that is absolutely the thing I wanted preschool to do," Perez said.
Perez said although she is concerned about her daughter starting Pre-K late, she won't enroll her until cases decrease, students are masked and her daughter can get vaccinated.
School leaders said they'll reevaluate the changes at the end of the month to see if they need to be extended into February.