On Tuesday, Aug. 10—the first day of school—Sarasota County Schools superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen recorded a video with updated safety protocol for district schools. The changes were made in reaction to the uptick in Covid-19 pediatric cases over the weekend.

Suspending field trips for the next 30 days.

Restricting nonessential visitors and volunteers on campuses for the next 30 days. In a school board meeting on August 4, Asplen said that volunteers and visitors would be allowed on campuses if they participated in a screening at the front office. This included temperature checks and answering a questionnaire about symptoms and travel. Now, volunteers and nonessential visitors will not be allowed on campus for 30 days.

Encouraging those who are unvaccinated or are ineligible to be vaccinated to wear a face mask when indoors. "This will mitigate the spread of the virus to the best of our ability within the guidelines of the governor's executive order," Asplen said in the video.

Making continuous updates to the Return to Learn and Return to Work handbooks."We will be closely monitoring Covid transmission within our schools and worksites and reevaluate current conditions at times," Asplen added.