Masks optional: Marion County kicks off the 2021-22 school year ocala.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ocala.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
COVID-19: Marion schools report 72 new cases in one week
The number of weekly COVID-19 cases in Marion County schools ticked up this week, with 72 people (52 students and 20 staff members) testing positive for COVID-19 from Feb. 5-11, according to a school district report issued on Friday.
There were 70 cases recorded for Jan. 29-Feb. 4; 91 recorded Jan. 22-28; 67 reported for Jan. 15-21; 120 for Jan. 8-14; and 202 for Dec. 18-Jan. 7.
About 87% of the district s 41,000-plus students (up from 66% several months ago) are attending in-person school.
Friday s news release also showed 711 other people (645 students and 66 staff) had to be put into quarantine during the week of Feb. 5-11. That number was 448 for Jan. 29-Feb. 4 and 772 for Jan. 22-28.
Marion schools: 67 new COVID-19 cases amid bus driver shortage
Marion County Public Schools, which recorded 67 new COVID-19 cases this past week, is fighting through a bus driver shortage that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
School district spokesman Kevin Christian said the district has 270 bus drivers. Before the pandemic, the district has been experiencing about 10 percent absences on any given day.
But I’d say that’s double now thanks to COVID-19 cases and direct contacts, Christian said. As a result, some drivers double- and triple-up on routes, which creates delays in getting students to school and home.
Christian added that we always need bus drivers, not just now because of COVID.