Leon County’s mother says repeated COVID-19 exposure and quarantine are affecting son’s education and calls for digital options

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A Tallahassee mother says her son has been in quarantine for nearly half of the 2021-2022 school year so far.

Kaylon Williams’ son is a sixth grade student at Cobb Middle School; he was exposed to COVID-19 and quarantined twice in the first three weeks of school.

As of Tuesday afternoon, statistics available show that more than 990 students are quarantined in Leon County. Overall, this number makes up 3.25% of all students.

The dashboard shows a total of 490 reported cases from employees and students in the last 14 days.

According to Leon County School District guidelines, parents must leave students at home during quarantine if they are sick or have a fever, or if they are waiting for COVID-19 test results, even if the student is asymptomatic.

Williams says when her son was first exposed he missed a full week of school because his “quick” test scores took two days. She says that during this time he was also unable to get into the online system to access his tasks.

When his password was reset days later, he was looking at homework on subjects and lessons he had missed. Williams says he’s already behind.

“So I have to go to work and come home and try to teach him so he can do his chores; I’m not a teacher, ”said Williams.

She added that while she also got a new job this month and it has been difficult to take time off because of her son’s COVID situation, her priority is his education.

“He’s supposed to do these jobs, but he hasn’t learned,” said Williams.

Her son had nine days at school this year, the other six days he was quarantined at home.

She learned that he was exposed again on Monday; they have an appointment for him to be tested on Wednesday. Williams is concerned about another delayed outcome and her son may miss the rest of the week.

Williams is pushing for a digital academy or virtual option.

“I would like to see that they have at least some kind of streaming or recording of the teacher teaching the class. That would be helpful. You need to make sure that the documents they post online so students can get their assignments done can be overwritten, not PDF documents, ”Williams said.

A spokesman for Leon County Schools says the state didn’t allocate funding for digital options this year, but they are working to unburden parents on those issues.

An email from the director of Cobb Middle School also stated that Leon County Schools are now providing free 24/7 access to all students in grades three through twelve so they can schedule live lessons with tutors during the quarantine .

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