West Orange BOE Approves District Reopening Plan, But Questions About Ventilation Still Linger – TAPinto.net
WOBOE Approves District Reopening Plan, But Questions About Ventilation Still Linger
WEST ORANGE, NJ. — The West Orange Public School (WOPS) District’s school reopening plan, which was presented two weeks ago, was approved to be sent to Essex County’s Superintendent office with a vote of 4-1 at Monday’s West Orange Board of Education (WOBOE) meeting.
Before the vote, WOPS Superintendent Dr. Scott Cascone and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Eveny de Mendez gave some clarification to the public about changes made to the plan.
Originally expecting to reopen school with a hybrid model, the district sent out a survey to parents in which approximately 70 percent of parents had said that they were willing to send their students back to school. However, at some point between July 20 and the presentation of the official plan on Aug. 6, the superintendent said that he turned his mindset when he could not ensure the safety of all staff and students.
Soon after presenting the new model with a virtual start, Gov. Phil Murphy said that any districts that are not able to meet the health and safety guidelines could open virtually until they are able to.
“When we presented [the reopening plan] we were identifying a number of questions [or] irreconcilable challenges at that time that represented very real health and safety concerns that we simply needed some additional time to thresh out before we felt comfortable brining in large numbers of students and large numbers of staff members into our buildings,” he said.
Cascone continued that the largest issue that the district faces is the fact that it cannot be confidently said that deficiencies in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems do not represent a hazard to staff and students.
A comprehensive HVAC evaluation was conducted earlier this year by architects from EI Associates. At next Monday’s public meeting, the architects will present the WOBOE a detailed analysis on remediation efforts, costs, and the timeline within which that work will be completed.
Based on the analysis, Cascone said that approximately 80 spaces within the school district are not ventilated and would–in the short-term– require “a relatively high-cost mobile ionization unit” which would cost approximately $2,000 per unit.
He explained that it coagulates microscopic molecules including viral molecules into a larger bundle so that it could easily be removed from the air in the room.
Pertaining to the safety of staff members, who ideally would be teaching on campus while students are learning virtually, Cascone said that it is more likely that air would be intermingled in a newer building like Liberty Middle School which has a centralized HVAC system, than at an older building like Roosevelt Middle School which was separate ventilation systems for every classroom.
“Of course, once we add students to the mix, then the risk becomes relatively even between both,” he said.
The timeline, which is expected to be discussed at Monday’s meeting, will not be lengthy according to the superintendent, but remediation efforts are not expected to be completed before students are expected back in school on Nov. 9. Emphasis will, however, be placed on elementary schools to get them up and running as soon as possible, Cascone said.
During public comment, many West Orange teachers expressed concern about the need to have teachers in classrooms during the virtual period, suggesting instead that they also be allowed to teach virtually from home until it is safe for everyone to come back.
Edison Middle School teacher Molly Eisen asked Cascone’s administration to not forget about the “teachers, aides, office staff, administrators and custodians who are still required to be in the buildings.”
“If it’s not safe for students, it’s not safe for adults either,” she said.
Eisen and many other teachers also added that they were confident that they would be able to maintain a robust and rigorous virtual curriculum thanks to the experiences they had teaching ESY and the Step Up program.
Nicole Suriano, a teacher at the Betty Maddalena Early Learning Center and daughter of Joe Suriano, a retired West Orange English teacher and coach who died recently as a result of COVID-19, expressed fear about being penalized for choosing to go virtual because of being high-risk.
Suriano, who is a type 1 diabetic, added that she did not want her colleagues, nor their families to have to endure the pain that her family went through.
“We don’t want to face it again. We don’t want to lose each other. We want to be in this together,” she said. “So please, going forward take into consideration of allowing us to go virtual same as students.”
Staff members will receive training virtually before being called to receive more training in person, but in response to staff concerns, Cascone said that while “staff needs to be in the classroom for a variety of reasons,” he cannot make teachers come to school.
“If we cannot vouch—we cannot confidently say that the work environment is safe for staff … I think we can’t in good conscience ask staff members to obligatorily report on site, but that’ll be something we’ll have to discuss further,” he said.
In response to Board member Cheryl Merklinger, who expressed her disappointment about having a virtual opening and wondered how working parents will be able to cope with having their children at home, Cascone said the district does have daycare options that will serve up to 600 students to minimize the burden, but concrete answers will need to be discussed further.
In terms of PPE, the superintendent explained that the district has enough supplies of masks and face shields to last the remainder of the school year, while having a supply of hand sanitizers and wipes to last four-to-five months. The district has also ordered a selective amount of desk barriers which will arrive in two-to-three weeks. The district has also put in an order for approximately 200 thermal scanners which will arrive by the end of August. They will be posted at entryways for temperature screenings.
A special WOBOE meeting will be Monday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m., but the next regular board meeting will be Monday, Aug. 31 at the WOHS at 7:30 p.m.