Vaccination Clinics On the Agenda
Superintendent Dr. Wagner Marseille began his report at the school board meeting on Monday, November 8, with an update on the Test-to-Stay program that the district launched on November 1. Test-to-Stay is a comprehensive strategy to identify SARS-CoV-2 infections in schools; it is aimed at maintaining in-person instruction and extracurricular activities for the school community. Dr. Marseille said that 45 students had been tested and that there were no positive results. He thanked the district’s lead COVID nurse, Deb Sweeney, board secretary Mary Figure, and their team for getting the program up and running in a short time. He also noted that in the last seven-day period, the number of COVID cases had gone down and vaccination rates had gone up in the district.
Dr. Marseille noted that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf had just announced that the state planned to return authority over decisions about K-12 school-mask requirements to local school districts on January 17. (Those decisions have been being made at the state level since September 7, 2020.) Dr. Marseille said that, once the state-wide mask mandate for schools is lifted, the district will revisit options, looking at positivity rates and other indicators, in order to decide the district’s policy on wearing masks during school hours.
Vaccination Clinics
Dr. Marseille reminded attendees that the Springfield Pharmacy will be offering vaccinations for children ages 5 through 11, and for all members of the WSSD community, on November 29, December 20, and January 12 at Strath Haven Middle School, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. He encouraged parents to discuss their options with their personal medical provider.
He also announced that, as an alternative, a vaccination clinic will be held at Nether Providence Elementary School on Saturday, November 13, and Saturday, November 20. The clinic is being organized by Dr. June Elcock-Messam (a pediatrician at Media Pediatrics in Wallingford and president of Every Child Counts, Inc.), and Dr. Joseph Laskas (president of the Delaware County Medical Society).
Further information about the vaccination clinics is available on the school district’s website, wssd.org.
Dr. Marseille reported that Kindergarten registration is up and running, that the Panther Pajama Run will be held on November 13, and that the Delco Turkey Trot (organized by Nether Providence Elementary School’s Parent-Teacher Organization) will be held on November 23. (Sign up for the run at signup.com). He also announced that the Strath Haven Marching Band would have the honor of participating in Media’s Veterans Day parade on November 11. Finally, as he does at every school board meeting, Dr. Marseille invited the community to attend meetings held by school board committees, including the Educational Affairs, Facilities and Finance, and Policy committees, and mentioned that the Policy committee was newly formed. All meeting dates and times can be found on the district’s website.
Planning the Calendar
School board member Kevin Henry reported on the November 4 meeting of the board’s Education Affairs Committee, at which the 2022-2023 school calendar was discussed. He thanked members of the community who had attended the committee meeting for their comments on sleep and school-morning start times, the idea of developing a 2-year calendar, how to accommodate religious and cultural holidays, the timing of the first day of school in the fall, and other semester start and end dates.
He said that the committee also discussed how federal program funds could be used to help support instructional programs and resources for students. He explained that these funds are allocated to schools based on the data they report about their demographics, the number of economically disadvantaged families, and academic performance: Title 1 money is allocated to Nether Providence Elementary School to support math and literary services; Title 2 funds are used to support professional development; and Title 4 funds are used to improve instructional resources and practices so that students receive a well-rounded education.
New Business
School board president David Grande asked if anyone had new or old business to discuss. In response, board member Amy Caruso said that, on her way into the meeting room, she had passed a sign at the entrance that said, “Parents who host, lose the most”—referring to the need for parents to help prevent underage drinking—and she asked the board to continue to attend not only to students’ physical health, but also to their mental health.
She said that, as a board, “it is our duty to care—as well as parents and guardians—and to guide the children that are in our protection,” and said she had heard concerns from friends and neighbors that there may have been incidents of substance abuse, possibly in school or on school grounds, which included illegal drugs, alcohol, smoking, or vaping. Then, speaking as a parent, Ms. Caruso said that Dr. Greg Hilden, the principal of Strath Haven High School, had made a very informative presentation to the home and school community at the high school, which was intended to inform high school parents about recent surveys that provide data on the incidence of drug and alcohol abuse. She said that she would like to see a similar report presented at the middle school and at the elementary schools. Ms. Caruso closed by urging the board to continue upholding policies that create a mentally healthy environment for all students.
Audience Comments
During audience comment period, a senior at Strath Haven High School spoke about the possibility of lifting the mask mandate in January. He said that as a hearing-impaired student, he struggles to hear in the classroom and often has to ask his peers more than once to repeat what they are saying. He urged the board to follow the science, and to take into consideration any data that supports lifting the mask mandate for students.
You can view a recording of this meeting of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board at https://swat.ink/wssd-youtube.
