SJCSD

The St. Johns County School District is surveying stakeholders on how to spend federal COVID-19 relief funds.

A recent letter from the National School Boards Association to President Joe Biden is being met with backlash from state and local school board officials.

With nearly 300 staff vacancies in the St. Johns County School District, local leaders are working to recruit new hires as the district continues its trend of rapid growth.

The St. Johns County Commission and St. Johns County School Board on Thursday got their first look at four proposed plans for how to redraw the county’s voting districts.

Duval County students and staff taking part in summer activities were not spared the scourge of COVID-19, as more than 200 tested positive between June 3 and July 28, according to data provided by Duval County Public Schools (DCPS).

The St. Johns County School District announced an expanded partnership with the Sheriff’s Office that will see at least one resource officer posted in all 46 of the district’s schools this fall.

Of the hundreds of yearbooks printed with edited photos of female students, only 25 were requested to be reprinted, according to St. Johns County School District spokesperson Christina Langston.

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Though the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners voted Wednesday evening to lift the county’s mask mandate, the school district’s counterpart policy remained unchanged Monday. “We do not have a timeline for lifting the requirements we have in place,” said Nassau County School District Assistant Superintendent Mark Durham. St. Johns CountyThe St. Johns County School District imposed its mask policy on July 10 and has not issued any updates or changes as of Monday. Clay CountyThe Clay County School District’s mask policy also remains unchanged as of Monday and Nicole Young, the district’s communications coordinator, said the board was not discussing any changes to it. Young said there’s no timeline on a decision to lift the school district’s mask policy, but did not rule out the possibility that it could happen before the end of the school year.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. Before students returned to St. Johns County classrooms on Monday, district officials had spent more than $2.4 million outfitting the buildings with cleaning supplies, equipment, PPE and protective barriers. The most expensive COVID-19 related cost so far is the desk partitions installed in each classroom. The district spent $1,637,518 on those barriers, meant to allow students a temporary reprieve from wearing their masks during lectures or classroom instruction. A digital thermometer was also placed in classrooms for daily temperature screenings of each student, equipment that cost the district $148,848. News4Jax asked the district how much of these expenses are expected to be covered by federal CARES Act funds, but did not receive an immediate response.