Big changes as summer camps open in Volusia County

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - There are big changes in place at summer camps in Volusia County amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monday, the county opened 13 sites from Daytona to DeBary.

Tim Baylie, parks and recreation director for Volusia County, said enrollment was at about 300 countywide.

“The struggle here is trying to keep kids with the six-foot distancing in the spaces we’re allotted,” he said.

This year's number of kids participating in camps is a big drop compared to last summer.

“On a normal summer, we would have about 1,200 to about 1,300 kids registered in our Volusia County summer camp,” Baylie said.

This summer, kids will not go on field trips, which means staff will have to make do with what is available at each site.

“This year, no school buses, so we’re kind of right where we’re at and it depends on what’s available at the site, if we have access to open playgrounds and open play areas,” he said.

Kids will also get daily temperature checks and high-contact areas will be sanitized.

Because of limited capacity, the county said spaces filled up within hours after going live.