South Butler made changes to keep schools open, students/faculty safe
Officials in the South Butler County School District have made changes to their pandemic protocol that they believe will keep students, faculty and staff safe while allowing the schools to remain open.
Superintendent David Foley said the quarantine time for those who test positive in the district was reduced from 14 days to five days in keeping with the protocol recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC shortened its isolation guidelines in late December to five days for a positive case without symptoms or if symptoms are resolving, based on statistics on the spread of the omicron variant of the virus.
Foley said those who test positive can remain at home for as long as they are feeling ill, but five days out of school is the minimum.
Reducing the time out of school to five days for a positive case also decreases the likelihood that any schools will reach the case threshold that would require them to close.
Foley explained that students or staff who tested positive were formerly required to remain at home for 14 days, which created a longer list of cases at each school.
“Bear in mind that when the case count reaches 5% of a school’s capacity, we are still required to shut down,” Foley said in a letter to parents.
He said none of the district’s four schools are now close to that 5% threshold.
Foley also announced the hiring of a pandemic coordinator, Michelle Watkins.
He said Watkins is a certified school nurse who formerly worked in the Propel Montour school in Kennedy Township, Allegheny County.
The district used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to hire Watkins on a three-year agreement.
Watkins will manage the case count and the virus’ impact on district schools as well as communicate with parents regarding the virus.
She also will help out in the schools’ nurse offices when not busy with pandemic-related tasks, Foley said.
Should a school nurse position be open at the end of her agreement with South Butler, Watkins would move into that position, he said.
The district also moved from telephoning to e-mailing parents to alert them that their student was in close contact with another who has tested positive for the virus.
Foley explained that parents will be alerted more quickly via e-mail.
“With the amount of close contacts, it became challenging to get to all of the parents by the end of the day,” Foley said.
In the case of a student or staff member who is determined to have been exposed to COVID-19 via close contact at school, they can either stay home for five days or come to school wearing a mask for 10 days.
Foley said he appreciates the patience shown by school families as the pandemic plays out in the district.
“I want to thank you for all the support you have shown to me and to the staff as we work to navigate the COVID challenges and keep instruction advancing,” Foley said in his parent letter. “I am hopeful that the present wave of COVID cases is nearing its end, and we will soon be able to focus exclusively on educating students.”
