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VOLUME 4, NO. 3
State tells schools how to minimize disruption Be ‘very surgical, not sweeping’ when responding to coronavirus cases, state says. ANA CEBALLOS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
Florida education officials have outlined how local school officials should respond when students or employees test positive for the coronavirus, providing more details on what has been a top concern amid school reopenings. At the heart of the guidelines is a “coronavirus symptomatic decision tree” that lays out who should be sent home, for how long, and for what symptoms, according to a 12-page report released by the Florida Department of Education on Aug. 18. While Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has acknowledged coronavirus cases are likely to occur when schools resume in-person instruction, the report spotlights the steps school officials should take when students and teachers get infected at school. “Simply being in the same classroom, building, or at the same event as a positive or symptomatic person does not mean someone must be contact-traced and self-isolated,” state officials wrote in the report, which was shared with Florida school superintendents on Aug. 18. Local school officials are being asked to contact a COVID-19 team within the state education agency to discuss the “coronavirus symptomatic decision tree” before shutting down classrooms or schools.
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Spruce Creek High School student to hold drive-by clothing giveaway for families in need
JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A
lice Le Roux has over 2,000 pieces of clothing in her Ormond Beach home. Hoodies, T-shirts, jackets and pants fill a room, crawling up the walls in piles Le Roux has yet to
Photos by Jarleene Almenas
Alice Le Roux, founder and president of Give to Live, isn’t letting the pandemic stop one of her club’s initiatives.
organize. The Spruce Creek High School rising senior is the founder and president of Give to Live, a student-run club that aims to help local families in need. Le Roux started the club in 2015 as an eighth grader in Hinson Middle School, and expanded it when she moved on to high school. One of their many projects? Collecting clothing items, includ-
ing uniforms, from the lost-andfound boxes at Volusia County Schools and donating them forward in the community. “Even the smallest effort can make a complete difference to someone,” Le Roux said. After she was told by a teacher that classrooms will likely be colder when schools reopen due to COVID-19 precautions, this year’s donation drive — to be held at Hope Place, located at 1340 Wright St. Daytona Beach., sometime near Labor Day — has an increased focus on winter clothes. It will be a “drive-by” giveaway where families will be able to pick out clothing as they drive around the overflow parking area of the family homeless
“It’s more than giving. It’s changing a way of thinking.” MICHEL LE ROUX, father of Give to Live founder Alice Le Roux
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Volusia’s Amendment 10 legal battle comes to an end
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County Council voted unanimously not to appeal.
County Council Chair Ed Kelley
JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Volusia County will not seek any more appellate reviews regarding Amendment 10, following the Aug. 17 ruling by the the First District Court of Appeal that the amendment is applicable to the county charter. In March 2019, Volusia appealed the Leon County Circuit Court judgment stating the same finding, arguing that Amendment 10 — which bundled the requirement for a state Department of Veterans Affairs, a change of the legislative session start day, and
requiring elections for the positions of sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, clerk of court and the supervisor of elections — violated the county’s charter. According to a memorandum by County Attorney Michael Dyer, the First District rejected Volusia’s argument and noted that the new amendment language overrides the county’s 1970 charter language stating the charter could only be amended by a vote in a special election for that purpose. If the county chose to take the legal battle further, Dyer said at the County Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25, the council
would have to seek discretionary review with the Florida Supreme Court, but the court wouldn’t be guaranteed to review their case. The council unanimously voted to let the matter rest. Council member Ben Johnson said he did agree the charter amendment — which is requiring Volusia to create a tax collector’s office (Will Roberts will be come the first county tax collector in 50 years following his election in the primary) — should have been a county issue. But in the end, Johnson said, “We’re wasting our time. It needs to stop. It’s divisive.”