Clay County FL — There will be 10,000 students taking the school bus on Tuesday in Clay County for the first day of school.
Normally the district has about 14,000 students that take the bus each year, but that number is down since some students will be doing online learning.
Action News Jax Alicia Tarancon jumped on board a school bus Monday to see all the new safety measures in place to keep students safe this year.
Students in Clay County are finally heading back to school for the first time since the pandemic shut everything down in March.
LISTEN: Clay Superintendent David Broskie on Jacksonville’s Morning News ahead of the first day of school
When students set foot on the bus, they’re going to notice some changes.
“You have to wear mask per CDC guidelines so all parents should send their kids to school on the bus with a mask,” Derald Sweatt, the Clay County Transportation Director said.
The Clay County School district says 3rd grade and up will be required to wear their masks, meanwhile Kindergarten through 2nd grade isn’t required to wear face coverings, but it will be strongly recommended.
Sweatt took Tarancon on board the bus to show her where bus drivers can access their mask and equipment.
Hand sanitizer dispensers will be new this year.
Boarding will take place from back to front and there will also be assigned seating.
“It just helps us with going back and cross tracing the virus if someone gets it,” he said.
Sweatt told Action News Jax one of the biggest changes this year will be how the buses are cleaned and sanitized.
Cleaning crews will use an electrostatic sprayer after the AM and PM routes.
“Spraying it from the back to the front and it takes up to one minute, but it’s a mist of a spray where it gets the hard to touch areas to kill any virus that’s on the bus,” Sweatt said.
The district told Tarancon not only is it going to be routinely cleaning throughout the day, but it’s also keeping the two front seats open in order to keep that 6 feet distancing between the bus driver and students.
Buses will begin rolling out at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
If your child forgets their mask, the district will have some available for students.
There are several options for parents if they still don’t know their child’s bus route. You can call the main phone line at (904) 336-0001 or click here.