Collier Schools

Books for Collier Kids and the Collier County Sheriff's Office continue to distribute books to children during events this July.

Three of the five positions on the Collier County School board are up for election this year. Three incumbents and eight challengers are vying for the school board’s district one, district three and district five races in the Aug. 23 primary election. All eleven candidates plan to participate in a forum on Tuesday, June 21 at the Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) Convention Center at 6 p.m.

The Alachua County School District is the first in the nation to receive federal funding from a Biden administration program aimed at supporting school districts facing financial sanctions for imposing student mask mandates.Florida’s supply of federally-purchased monoclonal antibody treatments will be cut by more than half starting next week.The Collier County School District has documented more COVID-19 cases in the first six weeks of this school year than in the entire previous school year.

Local pediatricians released a video to encourage mask wearing among kids.

The Collier County School Board held a special meeting Monday morning to discuss two hot-button issues: Critical Race Theory and Vaccines.

State health officials reported 3,184 new COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths, Wednesday. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 9.4 million people in Florida have been vaccinated including more than 7.2 million people who have completed a two-dose series or taken the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Florida officials plan to reinstate a requirement that those receiving state unemployment benefits must show that they’re looking for work and applying for jobs.The Florida Division of Emergency Management this week announced plans to close state-run COVID-19 testing sites throughout the state.The number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is going down in Florida, but new admissions are still higher than in most parts of the country, especially for younger and middle-aged adults.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC have now approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 12 to 15-year-old children.Collier and Manatee County School District officials are looking to make mask wearing optional for summer school and for the new school year that begins this fall.

State health officials reported 2,883 new cases of COVID-19, Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 741,632 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported 64 new coronavirus-related deaths, Oct. 14, increasing the statewide death toll to 15,788 fatalities.Of the 5,622,438 COVID-19 tests that have been reported in Florida so far, the overall positivity rate remains at 13.19% and the latest single-day positivity rate increased to 5.39%.

The pandemic has affected college football recruiting.

State health officials reported 1,736 new COVID-19 cases, Monday, bringing Florida's total to 665,730 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported 34 new coronavirus-related deaths, Sept. 14, increasing the statewide death toll to 12,800 fatalities.Of the 4,948,075 COVID-19 tests that have been performed in Florida so far, the overall positivity rate has fallen slightly to 13.45%, but the single-day positivity rate for Monday stands at 3.8%.

Collier County schools will stay on their planned schedule.