Pandemic Team Perseveres Through Changing Conditions

The Milton Area School District administration plays a central role in how students receive their education in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The journalism class held a press conference with Milton Superintendent Dr. Cathy Keegan, Director of Education Dr. Daphne Kirkpatrick, Director of Facilities Mr. Jeff Hoffman, Business Manager Mr. Derrek Fink, and Network Administrator Mr. Duane Gemberling on Sep. 21 regarding the formation and execution of the district’s Health and Safety Plan (HSP). Pandemic Coordinator Ms. Catherine Girton was contacted later by email.

“How can we bring everybody together but still stay apart?” said Mr. Fink of the Pandemic Team’s goal for the plan to return to school.

Ms. Girton said that a 29 member team developed the HSP, which was approved on July 21. As of Oct. 23, it has been revised three times, the latest revision on Oct. 20. The latest revision included “athletic changes…revising the language to say they will follow the mitigation strategies in the HSP” along with “attendance language,” according to Ms. Girton.

Dr. Keegan said that Milton’s HSP provided the school with a template on how to reopen safely. It was formed based on state recommendation, state laws and with guidance from both Evangelical and Geisinger hospitals, according to her and Mr. Fink.

The pandemic team worked six days a week over the spring and summer in preparation for students coming back to school, said Dr. Keegan. It was similar to being in a “war room,” she said, because they never knew what was going to happen or change the next day during the fight with an “invisible enemy.”

As soon as the district went online last year, said Mr. Hoffman, the school jumped to action with purchasing materials to combat the virus. “(Milton is) leaps and bounds ahead of the majority of schools,” he added.

The HSP plan has been revised, said Dr. Keegan, and is updated on the school’s website after every revision. “We are living in a world of shifting tectonic plates,” said Dr. Keegan about the constant changes, and that after each shift the school has to adjust their plans.

Mr. Fink said that some suggestions to combat the virus went against state laws, such as having large bottles of hand sanitizer on a bus. However, it is illegal to have more than three ounces of a flammable substance on a school bus so the idea was disregarded.

Dr. Keegan said that the school district must report each positive case of COVID-19 to the state Department of Health. The Department of Health then makes a recommendation of action for the schools, but it is ultimately up for the school to decide, she added.

The school may shut down even if it is not recommended by the Department of Health if there aren’t enough teachers available to work with students, added Mr. Fink.

District Data and Assessment Manager Ms. Courtney Hamm looks at the data from positive cases by zip code and determines the risk that students have of contracting COVID-19, according to Dr. Keegan.

If a student shows COVID-19 symptoms during school, there is a designated quarantine space in each building. The high school nurse’s office had been renovated to deal with such an occasion, Dr. Keegan added.

Another improvement to student internet accessibility has been in the form of hot spots. The school has issued between 220 and 250 hot spots, said Mr. Gemberling. Mr. Fink added that the district also plans to get hot spots through T-Mobile to reach a wider range of places and students.

One of the greatest challenges has been ensuring that students have access to technology, according to Dr. Keegan, and that the issue of providing broadband to rural students “has risen to the forefront.” About the government addressing this issue, Dr. Keegan said, “There are some silver linings during a pandemic even though it is hard to find them some days.”

The public education system has long resisted online learning, said Dr. Keegan, and she had never imagined the slogan “Your Education, Your Choice” coming to life.

There have been other unexpected bright spots in 2020. Discipline this year is significantly lower, said Dr. Keegan; Dr. Kirkpatrick attributed this low discipline rate to the idea that students are just happy to be back in school.

Milton was one of the first schools to open this year, and the district did a good job with “team-based decision making” in order to open safely, according to Dr. Keegan.

Ms. Girton said that her number one concern is to “keep abreast of changes related to the COVID-19 virus and determine if changes are needed to the district’s health and safely plan.” Ensuring that the school and state are working together is also a priority in order to “minimize the impact this virus will have on our school community,” she added.