Christopher Peak Photo
Public Health Directory Maritza Bond explains coronavirus risk to the school board.
School administrators will be closely monitoring the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance on coronavirus before allowing any more field trips.
The Board of Education spent nearly an hour and a half debating whether to allow any more travel as the virus, known as COVID-19, has rapidly spread to over 65 countries. It ultimately authorized its three-member executive leadership team, in consultation with the city’s health director, to cancel any pre-approved school outing without calling a formal vote.
The school board unanimously created that procedure, which could affect 15 upcoming trips, at its Monday afternoon special meeting at the district’s Meadow Street headquarters.
School board members deliberate over field trips at Monday’s special meeting.
Up first? Clinton Avenue School’s 40-student trip to Vermont for a leadership summit.
Iline Tracey, the interim superintendent, said her own children “would be going nowhere.”
Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, a pediatrician on the board, said she worries about the rising number of patients in Vermont being monitored for coronavirus.
Maritza Bond, the city’s public health director, pointed out that Vermont isn’t on the CDC’s watchlist — “yet,” added Larry Conaway, a former principal now serving on the board.
Matt Wilcox, the board’s vice-president, said there’s probably more risk in traveling to Vermont than in actually catching the disease.
Board members ultimately voted, 4 – 2, to allow the trip to go ahead.
A study of the first 425 confirmed cases in Wuhan, noted that few involved kids. “Children might be been less likely to become infected or, if infected, may show milder symptoms,” the authors wrote.
Administrators said that reevaluating their travel plans is just one way that they’re trying to prevent the spread of coronavirus. At the Finance & Operations Committee later on, Joseph “Pepe” Barbarotta, the school’s facilities director, said he’s having custodians wipe door handles and replace bathroom soap.
For now, the CDC has recommended that school districts emphasize “common-sense preventive actions for students and staff,” like washing their hands for at least 20 seconds, covering their coughs and sneezes, and wiping down doorknobs, light switches, keyboards, remote controls and desks.
The CDC also says schools should review the way they handle absenteeism, doing away with any “perfect attendance awards” that might discourage students and staff from staying home when they’re sick.