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Polk County Schools offers new online resource for COVID-19 impacts on the school district

A mass messaging system will send and keep a record of any communication sent to parents, teachers and employees regarding positive COVID-19 cases in schools.
Credit: File photo

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — As the 2020-2021 school year gets underway, Polk County Schools leaders are working to make the impacts of any positive coronavirus cases transparent and accessible to parents, teachers, employees and members of the public.

If there is at least one positive COVID-19 case at a school, the district will send a mass telephone and email message to the school's community. After the message is sent, anyone who came into close contact with the confirmed case will be contacted directly. 

After the email message is sent, it will be stored on the district's website and be accessible to the public. You can read a sample message on the website here.

The district says it worked closely with the Florida Department of Health to develop these procedures and plans prior to the school year starting. 

“We know how important it is to communicate with our community and to keep them as informed as possible during these very uncertain times,” said Senior Director of Communications Rachel Pleasant.

“We are grateful to the FDOH for their partnership in all of our COVID-related communications efforts and in making this new resource available on our website," she said.

RELATED: Here's where COVID-19 cases have been reported in Tampa Bay schools

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