TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis said he is no longer under quarantine.

On Sunday, Davis sent a letter via email to announce it. He had self-quarantined more than a week ago after saying he had came into contact with someone who tested positive for covid-19.

He said it was rough staying quarantined at home, but added it gave him an appreciation for the students and staff who are going through the same thing.

The superintendent decided to quarantine following exposure to someone who tested positive for covid-19.

Davis said he tested negative on both the rapid and laboratory tests.  

Read the Superintendent’s letter below:

Dear Families,

Good evening from my last day in quarantine. It’s been rough staying quarantined at home, but it has given me such an appreciation for the students and staff who are going through the same scenario. I tested negative on both a rapid test and laboratory test. Nonetheless, I followed our locally established protocol for quarantines, just as we ask our students and staff to do. My hats off to all educators, support professionals, and students who are working hard daily to obtain excellence and finding strategies to duplicate best practices.

On that note, I need to ask our families to continue to follow guidelines when it comes to staying healthy. That means wearing a mask, social distancing and washing your hands often. This isn’t just true for the 8 hours kids are in our schools. We need help making sure our students are staying smart and safe when they are out in the community, or hanging out on weekends. In most instances, the positive cases being brought into our schools are caused by community spread. We need your help controlling this. Please stress to your child the importance of following CDC guidelines-and we will continue to be transparent about COVID-19 in our schools on our COVID-19 dashboard.

While we continue to educate our students during a pandemic, I know that we have community members and stakeholders who are eager to return to our campuses. Specifically, our volunteers, mentors, and PTSAs. I appreciate the innovative strategies each of you are implementing to further support our students during COVID-19. Your hard work does not go unnoticed and I commend your efforts as we collectively seek to eliminate the gap between our schools and families.

I look forward to the time, hopefully sooner rather than later, that we can once again allow our volunteers and PTSAs on campus to help continue the great work we are accomplishing together. We are currently devising a plan to allow this to occur very soon.

Respectfully,

Addison Davis