The school board approved the updated code of conduct, changes to the high school program of studies, and several financial transactions – most routine – at its Nov. 23 meeting. The board also authorized the district to seek bids for summer 2021 facilities projects, including HVAC renovation at Farmersville ES, repairs at the Colonial Early Learning Center, and repairs to the garage at Broughal MS. All nine members were present; all measures passed 9–0, with one abstention regarding one bill payment.

Overshadowing the district’s academic and facilities plans, however, was the specter of a state-mandated shutdown, despite the fact that BASD has not had any coronavirus spread in its schools.

Senior Network Director of Epidemiology and Strategy at St. Luke’s Dr. Rajika Reed addressed the board first, followed by Bethlehem Health Bureau Director Kristen Wenrich and BASD health supervisor Dr. Kim Brannan.

Wenrich discussed new mitigation orders from the state Department of Health. “The Department of Health has moved away from leaving those recommendations up to local health departments and local school districts,” she said. “The recommendation earlier had been to close your school if your county was in ‘substantial spread.’ We looked at all the factors and confirmed that our schools did not have spread in the schools. The Department of Health said today that if your county is in ‘substantial spread,’ your school has to sign an attestation […] agreeing to use the state’s numbers for when to shut the school down.” (The state’s matrix of mandatory school closures is available online at www.education.pa.gov/Schools.)

This radical change in policy from Secretary Rachel Levine takes all decision-making power away from local school districts, and discounts to zero the advice of local public health experts. “Now,” Wenrich said, “it doesn’t matter that there’s no evidence of school spread. If you’re in a substantial spread county, you have to abide by that [matrix]. Otherwise the Secretary of Health will shut the school down.”

Because the state’s matrix includes mandatory shutdowns for varying numbers of days, and differing among building sizes, BASD now faces the risk of complete school shutdowns with extremely short notice, for periods of varying duration.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy expressed his concern. “Parents can’t deal with that – they have to have childcare. And the other enormously important fact is this: Our kids need school.” He focused on the work that the district’s health partners have continued to do in creating and maintaining a safe environment in schools: “An arbitrary number – to say that if you hit that, school has to close – that really is missing the point as far as what we’re supposed to do for these kids. Because of our close partnership with the health bureau, we are much more sophisticated in the way we are conducting contact tracing [and other practices] than other districts.”

Brannan detailed the step-by-step process that her team uses to investigate each person – staff or student – who tests positive for the coronavirus, including an in-depth interview about where the person has been for the past several days, where the student has spent time within and outside school buildings, whether the student talked to anyone at lunchtime, and other factors. Videos of cafeterias are used to track down all lunchtime contacts.

The ongoing coronavirus situation also threatens the financial stability of the school food service program. Wage costs for dining services employees are fixed, but income depends on the number of students choosing a school lunch.

This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is reimbursing districts for all meals served, regardless of whether students’ families meet need requirements that have applied in other years. There has been some confusion among families who think that their child packing a lunch means that more food is available for other children; however, the fact is that every student who chooses a school-provided lunch brings revenue into the program, making it sustainable for the children who need it most. More information on how to pick up free breakfast and lunch for all students (kindergarten through 12th grade) is available on the district’s website (https://www.basdschools.org/Page/1383).