Forest Hills Elementary School is preparing for the beginning of the 2021-22 school year

Coral Springs, Florida – Hundreds of students from Pre-kindergarten to 5th grade will return to the classrooms on Wednesday in Coral Springs.

Forest Hills Elementary School administrators, teachers, and staff are preparing for the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.

According to Barbara Rothman, the school’s principal, the safety protocols to help reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus will continue amid a community surge in COVID cases.

“Cleanliness is very important to us,” Rothman said.

According to Rothman, the Ranger Bear’s school campus, at 3100 NW 85th Ave., has several hand sanitizing stations and touchless water fountains.

“Our purpose here is basically to keep them healthy, to keep them safe, and to maximize their instruction,” Rothman said.

According to the Florida Department of Health, the school has had outbreaks before, from Sep 6, 2020, to May 22, 2021, the school reported 41 COVID cases, including 33 students infected, 4 teachers, and 3 staff members.

“We are spacing out the kids and making sure everybody has their own independent supplies,” said Kimberly Eloy, a 1st-grade teacher at Forest Hills Elementary School.

Anna Fusco, Broward Teachers Union president, said that as the virus spreads contact tracing will be very important. She said schools also need to be transparent about how many positive cases there are and how many people are in quarantine.

There will be plenty of educational signs to remind students about Broward County Public Schools’ face mask mandate, Rothman said. Debra Hixon, a member of the School Board of Broward County, expects there will be parents who will oppose the district’s mandate.

“Each school will deal with it as best that they can,” Hixon said.

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, transmissibility remains high in Broward County and about 66.5% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID.