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ALACHUA COUNTY –The continuing COVID-19 pandemic is making it nearly impossible to plan for future events, both personal and community wide.  The situation is continually evolving, making plans dependent on the virus and its infection rate. Due to the school shutdowns caused by COVID-19, educators have had to rethink and improvise teaching and communication with students and families.

Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) had to transition rapidly from traditional teaching methods in a classroom setting to online and distance learning, finding ways to continue to teach, making use of the technology available.  Now Alachua County Public Schools has released a draft return-to-school plan.

On March 14, the State ordered that all Florida public schools take an additional week off after spring break with plans to reopen on March 30. But the numbers continued to rise rapidly to over a thousand cases by March 22. Less than two weeks later, on March 31 there were 6,741 cases and 85 deaths. The Board of Education announced that all schools would remain closed until at least May, but each deadline was pushed back due to the continued outbreak and eventually the schools would remain closed for the year while educators scrambled to reinvent education for remote learning.

On June 3, Governor DeSantis announced that Florida would enter Phase Two of reopening starting June 5. It looked like school would return to normal for the next year.

However, as people flocked to recreation areas and indoor activities, the numbers of cases suddenly spiked in mid-June, and plans are thrown into turmoil. The Florida Department of Education was tasked with coming up with different options for an unpredictable school year.

After weeks of intensive work that included reviews of return-to-school plans from districts across Florida and other states, surveys of families and staff, consultations with local healthcare experts and guidance from the Florida Department of Education, Alachua County Public Schools has released a draft plan for the reopening of schools in the fall of 2020.

The plan outlines strategies that will be implemented depending on the community spread of the virus in three scenarios—no spread, minimal/moderate spread and significant spread. According to the Alachua County Health Department, Alachua County is currently in the minimal/moderate spread category, although that could change so the School Board came up with different options.

A survey previously sent to parents showed that of the more than 12,000 respondents, about 36 percent completely supported a return to in-person schooling with precautions, including frequent handwashing and enhanced cleaning of facilities, while about 26 percent did not.

“We recognize that no single plan will meet every family’s needs, particularly in this very challenging environment,” said Superintendent Karen Clarke. “What we’ve tried to create is a draft plan that provides options and covers a variety of scenarios depending on the course of the virus.”

The draft plan has been reviewed by the Alachua County Health Department and the district’s medical director, a pediatrician with UF Health. District staff will remain in constant contact with local healthcare professionals about COVID-19 and its impact on schools.

The complete draft plan, with additional information, is available on the district’s website at https://fl02219191.schoolwires.net/Page/30007. The draft plan is not a final plan and is dependent on the future of the virus.

The Alachua County School District will be seeking more input from staff, families and the community before the plan is finalized, which is scheduled for July 15. A school board workshop on July 8 at 2 p.m. will include a presentation on the draft plan, including the instructional options, and an opportunity for citizens to comment and ask questions. That workshop will be held online and will be open to the public. In the meantime, citizens can submit their input at returntoschool@gm.sbac.edu.

If the situation allows for it, the district currently plans to reopen schools to students on Aug. 10. Emails, texts and phone messages with a link to the plan are being sent to all families with students in the district.

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GAINESVILLE — Alachua County’s most current health data and leading health concerns are featured in the recently released "Alachua County Community Health Assessment 2020" by WellFlorida Council, the local health planning council of North Central Florida. The purpose of the community health assessment is to uncover or substantiate the health needs and health issues in Alachua County and better understand the causes and contributing factors to health and quality of life in the county.

 The comprehensive health assessment effort is based on a nationally recognized model and best practice for completing health assessments and improvement plans called Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP). Use of the MAPP process and tools helped assure a collaborative and participatory process with a focus on wellness, quality of life and health equity that led to the identification of shared, actionable, strategic health priorities for Alachua County. Copies of the report can be downloaded from the WellFlorida website (www.WellFlorida.org) under “County Publications.”

 Conclusions and trends in the assessment were drawn from survey data, state and national database findings, and community stakeholder discussions.

The top five most important factors that contribute to a health community as identified by Alachua County residents are: 1) Access to health care including primary care, specialty care, dental and mental health care; 2) Access to convenient, affordable and nutritious foods; 3) Job opportunities for all levels of education; 4) Affordable housing; and 5) Healthy behaviors. The majority of residents rated the health of the county as “somewhat healthy” to “healthy.”

Immunization rates among kindergartners and seventh graders in Alachua County have seen positive trends over the last decade, surpassing state averages (94.2 percent of kindergartners and 97.4 percent of seventh-graders in 2019). The county also reports consistently lower rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases (16.3 per 100,000 population in 2018) over a decade.

Despite having a wealth of medical resources concentrated in the city of Gainesville, only 69.5 percent of Alachua County residents reported having a personal doctor, slightly lower than the state average of 72 percent. Inappropriate utilization of Emergency Department for dental or oral health reasons remains high at 2,793 preventable visits from January to September 2018.

Health disparities, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations,” were evident in maternal and infant health data, as well as in other categories such as morbidity and mortality, wealth and quality healthcare.

Rates of teen pregnancy have trended downward among White, Black and Hispanic populations. Black residents, however, continued to experience a higher teen pregnancy rate (2.1 percent) relative to White counterparts (0.3 percent) from 2016 to 2018.

 Infant mortality and low birthweight (LBW) births among the Black population in Alachua County is an area of particular concern. In the time period of 2016-2018, the infant death rate was almost fourfold higher among Black residents (15.8 deaths per 1,000 population) relative to White (4.2 deaths per 1,000 population) and Hispanic (4.3 deaths per 1,000 population) counterparts. The average infant death rate among Black residents in Alachua County is also higher than the average infant death rate among Black residents in Florida (11.2 deaths per 1,000 population). LBW birth trends since 2013 demonstrate a similar pattern with disparities widening in recent years.

The disparity in all-cause mortality rates between the White population and Black population in Alachua County has improved in recent years. All-cause mortality in the Black population decreased from 978 deaths per 100,000 population in 2014 to 909 deaths in 2018. However, this remains higher than the all-cause mortality rate among the White population of 749 deaths per 100,000 population in 2018.

White residents had much higher median household incomes ($54,112) compared to Hispanic residents ($42,410) and Black residents ($30,132) in the county. Income inequality by racial group was worse at the county level than the state level.

Considering all findings throughout the assessment process, community stakeholders identified the issues with the highest priority in Alachua County as access to affordable housing and utilities, health disparities, access to mental healthcare and access to nutritious foods, according to the report.

The project is funded by the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County and UF Health Shands Hospital.

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HIGH SPRINGS – The City of High Springs is postponing the purchase of a security system for City Hall. The City had asked for bids on an access control system and received a total of nine bids, which Emerald Data Partners founder Eric May said was surprising during a time when everything was locked down due to COVID-19. May said all but two of the submittals met the bid requirements. The range of bid amounts is $16,504 - $45,000.

May, a former High Springs City Commissioner, pointed out that this was a security issue that the City has wanted to address for some time. He has been working with the City to provide technology consulting services, strategy, data backup and disaster recovery services and was asked to spearhead the search for a structural security system for City Hall.

Although the bids were ranked and May reviewed the pros and cons of the top submittals, the High Springs City Commission declined to act on the bids at this time. That decision was made following a question to the Finance Director by Commissioner Scott Jamison as to whether the purchase had been included in this fiscal year’s budget.

Learning that it had not, Commissioners asked if the item could be re-bid for the next fiscal year’s budget or whether some of the bidders would extend their bids. May said it was unlikely they would extend their bids into or past October, the beginning of the City’s next fiscal year’s budget. May had said previously that the City had no idea what the costs might be for such a system. “Now that the City has received these bids, a reasonable amount can now be budgeted for the next fiscal year,” said May.

Commissioner Nancy Lavin moved and Commissioner Gloria James seconded a motion to table the issue until the next fiscal year. The motion was unanimously approved.

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HIGH SPRINGS – After 41 years at the High Springs Day Care Center, 61-year-old Director Tammy Fleming formally retired on June 30. “I have seen children and their children come up through this center,” she said. “It’s like having grandchildren after all this time.”

The Day Care Center has been in place for 48 years. Fleming is a widow and her husband was a retired police officer from New York. Fleming said her son went to school there and he will be 43 in July. He now has three boys of his own who are six, 18 and 21 years old.

She is planning a trip to visit them in Stone Mountain, Georgia when the threat of COVID-19 has passed. “My son and grandchildren have been asking me to come and cook some of their favorite dishes when I get there,” she said.

“My niece lives in Kentucky and she has kids of her own, too. I just plan to travel a little bit and visit family,” she said.

The Day Care Center has been serving about a dozen children from the age of two – 12 years old. “I will surely miss them,” she said. “I have loved these children [at the Day Care Center] as my own for 41 years and I just want to spend a little bit of time with my own kids now.”

Due to the pandemic, there will not be a retirement party to celebrate her departure. “I was honored in January and that is just fine with me,” Fleming said.

At the time of her retirement, Fleming said the Day Care Center doesn’t have a replacement for her. Although the City owns the building, there is a Board of Directors who oversees the school.

Board member Cassandra Davis said children who go on to school after they leave Fleming’s care are well prepared and that Fleming put in a lot of her own volunteer time at the day care center. “It has been really great working with Tammy. She has been extremely good with the children, very dependable and has served the community well.”

“We are sorry to lose her, but we will look for a replacement to help fill her shoes,” Davis said.

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