Coronavirus in Tampa Bay schools: a weekly update

As more students return to face-to-face classes, statistics on coronavirus cases are continuing to show an upward trend. At the beginning of the school year, there were typically 100 to 125 cases a week in Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties combined. Now the totals exceed 200, with as many as 14 a day in Pinellas.

Here are the counts for the week that just passed:

Hernando County: As in the other districts, high schools are seeing the biggest numbers with three at Central this week and one each at Springstead and Nature Coast Technical. There were two cases at Winding Waters K-8 and a case each at Fox Chapel and West Hernando middle schools. There were three cases at Explorer K-8 for a total of 12. All were students this week.

Hillsborough County: Newsome High has overtaken Plant High for the most cases in the district, with nine cases this past week and 37 total cases since the school year started.

The culture @HCPSNewsomeHS is rocking! Such an collective effort to ensure the every learner is exposed to strong instruction and grade level appropriate content. So refreshing to see teachers interacting with students before, during, & after class to establish relationships! pic.twitter.com/dgWLmYt0gS
— Addison Davis (@AddisonGDavis) October 27, 2020

Things were quiet at Plant, which has 27 cases since the schools opened to students on Aug. 31. At Steinbrenner High, there were four cases this week, for a total of 25 so far this year.

Charter schools reported more than half of Friday’s cases, including five staff cases at Woodmont in Temple Terrace. Gaither High also had five cases this week. Mabry Elementary had six, including three last weekend. New Springs and Pepin Academies, both charter schools, each had three cases, as did the school district office.

These schools had two cases each: Alafia, Bing, Knights, Lanier, Mango, McKitrick, Oak Grove and Oak Park elementary schools; Randall Middle; Alonso, Armwood, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Durant, Jefferson and Strawberry Crest high schools; Bridgeprep Academy of Riverview and Henderson Hammock Charter School.

These elementary schools had one case each: Alexander, Bevis, Brooker, Claywell, Colson, Cork, Crestwood, Dover, Heritage, Lake Magdalene, Lopez, Northwest, Ruskin, Sessums, Trapnell, Valrico, Westchase, Wilson and Wimauma.

These schools also had one case each: Coleman, Davidsen, Giunta, Greco, Hill, Liberty, Mulrennan, Progress Village, Randall, Rodgers, Smith, Stewart and Webb middle schools; Armwood, Blake, East Bay, Jefferson, Middleton, Sickles, Spoto, Sumner and Wharton high schools; and Rampello K-8.

These charter schools had one case each: Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science, Learning Gate, Pivot, RCMA Wimauma, Valrico Lake Advantage, Waterset and Winthrop.

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So far this year, there have been 25 cases at Steinbrenner High, six at McKitrick Elementary and five at Martinez Middle, which share Steinbrenner's campus on Lutz Lake-Fern Road near the Suncoast Parkway. [ Times (2009) ]

Pasco County: Once clustered largely in the Zephyrhills area, Pasco’s school-based COVID-19 cases are spreading out.

There were four cases this week at Wiregrass Ranch High. There were three each at Fivay High, Land O’Lakes High and Sanders Memorial Elementary.

These schools had two cases each this week: Bexley, Odessa, and Quail Hollow and Seven Oaks elementary; R.B. Stewart and Thomas E. Weightman middle schools; Cypress Creek and River Ridge high schools; and the Harry Schwettman Educational Center.

These schools had one case each this week: Connerton, Mittye P. Locke, Pasco, Pine View, Schrader, Trinity, Wesley Chapel and Woodland elementary schools; Bayonet Point, Centennial, Cypress Creek, John Long, River Ridge and Seven Springs middle schools; J.W. Mitchell, Sunlake, Wendell Krinn Technical and Zephyrhills high schools; and the Marchman Technical College.

There was a case at the Department of Transportation and one in MySchool Online.

Patty Hanley, who teaches entrepreneurship to students with intellectual abilities, moves a cart of classroom supplies while setting up her socially distanced classroom for nine students on Aug. 12 at Wendell Krinn Technical High in New Port Richey. The school recorded its first coronavirus case on Thursday. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]

Pinellas County: The Pinellas district once again had a busy week with 37 cases over four days.

At Pinellas Park High this past week, part of the varsity football team was placed on quarantine because of a coronavirus case. [ CHRIS URSO | Times ]

Four of those cases were at Oak Grove Middle School in Clearwater.

These schools had two cases each: Oakhurst Elementary, Tyrone Middle, Pinellas Primary Academy, Clearwater Adult Education Center and Palm Harbor University High.

These schools had one case each: Bay Vista Fundamental; Belleair, Cypress Woods, Fairmount Park, Gulf Beaches, Safety Harbor, Sexton, Shore Acres and Southern Oak elementary schools; Osceola Middle; Countryside, East Lake, Gibbs, Largo, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg high schools; Clearview Adult Education Center, Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center and these charter schools: Alfred Adler, Discovery Academy of Science-North and Plato Academy St. Petersburg.

There was one case in the Pinellas district’s administrative headquarters and one in the Walter Pownall Services Center in Largo.

Excluding Friday’s Pinellas cases, the total between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 was 221, which is the largest weekly number to date. Since students returned to school, the Tampa Bay Times has confirmed 1,527 cases of the coronavirus.

Colleges and universities:

Since Oct. 23, the University of South Florida reported that 30 students and four employees across the school’s campuses have tested positive. Cases listed are those that students, faculty or the health department report to the university and those who test positive at the Student Health Center.

During the same time period, the University of Tampa reported 49 students who tested positive. The school also reported that 592 of its 701 reported cases from the beginning of the semester have recovered as “symptom free and not contagious.” Cases reported are those who self-report or are diagnosed at the student health center.

Over the same time period, St. Petersburg College reported eight cases across its 13 campuses and Hillsborough Community College reported 10 cases across its four campuses. Eckerd College reported one active and three recovered cases of residential students this week.

Previous reports: