Photo shows students jammed together at Florida high school

Volusia County Schools started Monday with a number of health and safety guidelines in place. One of these guidelines encourages safe distancing.

We are aware of a picture circulating that shows a large group of students waiting for schedules at Spruce Creek High School. When administrators saw the large crowd forming, they immediately dispersed the crowd. We believe this picture is a snapshot of a gathering that lasted just a few minutes.

That said, we are committed to making Volusia County Schools as safe as possible.

Many strategies are in place to prevent large gatherings and to provide the ability to socially distance in classrooms and hallways. We’ve added additional lunch periods so that fewer students are at lunch at one time. Hallways are monitored for distancing and many schools have one-way traffic to allow students to remain apart as they transition during class periods. We have a mandatory face-covering policy when social distancing is not possible, which includes times such as class transitions, arrival, and departure.

School and classroom procedures listed on our district website read, “To the greatest extent possible and dependent upon campus layout, schools will employ social distancing strategies during transitions such as staggering of class dismissals, one-way hallways, signage directing students along pre-determined routes to avoid congestion, and supervision staff will monitor compliance with face coverings and actively encourage students to follow social distancing guidelines.”

Now that school has started, we will double down on our planning to ensure there are no large group gatherings. We have had regular communications reminding students and staff to do their best to socially distance at school, and we will continue to be clear in our expectations to follow these practices. We understand we must all do our part to protect our students and staff, and we are committed to strictly following our important health and safety guidelines.