For your personal safety, and in response to a recent revision by the CDC regarding guidelines for indoor mask use, Palm Beach County has announced a return to the policy of mandatory use of mask and facial coverings while indoors in County buildings. Effective August 2, 2021, all employees, volunteers and visitors to our Extension offices and indoor facilities must wear masks and follow sensible social distancing practices (greater than 6 feet).
Visitors: Appointments are Recommended
Palm Beach County Extension is open to visitors and welcomes your return to our offices as you conduct your extension business. For better efficiency and for your convenience, we highly recommend that you make an appointment with the person that you are seeking. Our extension agents and professional staff are frequently away from their offices, for reasons that include delivering educational workshops or making site visits at other locations. Thus, we recommend that you make an appointment.
To make an appointment for these discipline areas, the following people will make the appropriate preparations for your visit.
Agriculture and Ag Safety - Elinor Broullon - 561-233-1712
Family & Consumer Sciences - Lurene Leatherwood - 561-233-1741
4-H Youth Development - Dina Ligotino - 561-233-1792
Mounts Botanical Garden - Debbie Sandler - 561-233-1733
Environmental Horticulture and Master Gardener Volunteers - Candace Smith 561-233-1759
Our offices are staffed Monday through Friday, 8 am through 5 pm. The Master Gardener Volunteer Helpdesk is staffed Monday through Friday, 9 am through 4 pm.
Use of Extension Facilities
Use of indoor facilities (meeting halls, conference rooms) are available at this time for events/activities that are organized and/or sponsored by Extension agents, Mounts Botanical Garden staff, and other County Departments. We are allowing our facilities to be used at reduced capacities in order to promote social distancing and reduced people densities.
Safety Commitment
Heightened sanitization protocols have been implemented to protect employees and visitors, including increased frequency of sanitization efforts for high-touch areas, hand sanitizer stations in every building, availability of facemasks (at your request), and postings of relevant COVID-related safety signage.
Not everyone has received their COVID vaccination. For this reason, we urge everyone to continue practicing "physical distancing" during your group events and to continue using good hygiene practices as recommended by the CDC and Health Department. Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth and face. Avoid close contact with people who are sick or exhibit symptoms of illness. Please be considerate of the health of others by staying home when you are sick.
Palm Beach County Extension will continue to monitor the status of COVID-19 in our area and we will communicate any changes (on this website) regarding the status of extension educational programming, availability of indoor facilities for meetings/gatherings, and specifics related to visiting the Mounts Botanical Garden.
Please visit our website at http://discover.pbcgov.org/coextension/Pages/default.aspx for updates on the status of your Palm Beach County Extension Department. For specific information regarding the Mounts Botanical Garden, please visit https://www.mounts.org/.
For local Palm Beach County news that addresses COVID-19 issues:
http://discover.pbcgov.org/coronavirus/Pages/default.aspx
For the latest Florida-specific information, including a COVID-19 resource toolkit, visit the Florida Department of Health:
http://www.floridahealth.gov/
For a wide variety of COVID-19 related articles and helpful FAQs, visit this University of Florida (UF/IFAS) website:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_covid19
Information from the University of Florida Health Department:
https://coronavirus.ufhealth.org/frequently-asked-questions/covid-19-facts/
For the latest federal updates as well as information about how to prevent COVID-19, visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html