VERO BEACH, Fla. — The School District of Indian River County is requiring masks for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The mandate will begin Monday and will last until at least Sept. 15.
The new mandate does not allow parents to opt their children out. However, some medical exemptions will apply.
Superintendent Dr. David Moore said high school students only account for a fraction of the positive cases and that those students are able to receive the vaccine.
To date, 128 students and 74 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Board members said they plan to revisit the issue at their next board meeting.
Beachland Elementary School has closed because of a COVID-19 breakout and won't reopen until after Labor Day, Indian River School District said.
Spokesperson Cristen Maddux told WPTV-TV the school, which has roughly 500 students, was shut down because "we continued to see positive staff and student cases. Closing the school has more to do with the staff shortage.”
According to the school's dashboard, there are 12 students and 12 staff members listed as cases with "school impact." In the entire district there are 198 students' cases and 108 staff members affected.
Also, 368 students are quarantined among the roughly 17,000 students in the district.
All of the students will continue learning from home and will obtain lessons remotely through Canvas, the school district's online learning platform, Maddux said.
If your child needs a laptop, you can request one by calling the school district’s tech hotline at (772)-564-3051.
In addition to laptops, free meals will also be provided on Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. through the 2-5 car loop and stop at the east cafeteria doors.
During the distribution parents will need an ID and your child must attend Beachland Elementary to receive meals. To request meals, parents should send an email with their child’s name and ID number to Melissa.toperzer@indianriverschools.org. If you have questions, call 772-564-4980.