COVID cases rise in schools after holidays

Knott tells board that 'we'll get through this'

Escambia County (Ala.) School Board members heard updates on the increase of COVID-19 positive and close contact cases as well as ongoing projects at its meeting last Thursday during School Board Appreciation week.

"This has been a very, very stressful, hard year to get through," said Escambia County (Ala.) School Superintendent John Knott. "Our staff have stepped up to the challenge and taken on the responsibility of being able to continue to provide for our kids and community in the best way that we can."

Knott said the return to school following the holidays resulted in a rise in both positive COVID cases and close contacts, stating that 26 students and 12 staff members tested positive for the virus.

"Keep in mind that's out of almost 4,200 students and out of about 643 full time staff members county-wide," said Knott. "Twelve is too many and 26 is too many."

Knott went on to say that seven staff members and 219 students were sent home due to close contact, including 50 close contact students sent home county-wide last Thursday.

"That is going to be a continual up and down until we get through another week," he said. "I spoke with the Alabama Department of Public Health and they are starting to see a taper off in positive numbers now. People are out, they congregate, socialize, travel, and when they do they, we wind up having some high numbers....we are continuing to follow the protocols. We are going to get through this, we just have to stay vigilante, we just have to be mindful to provide the best and safest way of handling things that we can."

Knott said he is talking to Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Department of Education, advocating for the vaccines to be made available for all of his staff, offering space at the schools to distribute the vaccine, like they do flu shots now. He said he hopes to make that happen, citing the benefit in doing it in on site will not crowd healthcare facilities.

WS Neal repair/renovation project

Water from Hurricane Sally did some damage at W.S. Neal High School in East Brewton and while quick response to clean up saved money and more damage, the repairs are needed.

Triptek in Atmore got the contract to do the repairs and renovations, with an estimated pre-construction meeting date of Feb. 1. Knott said School System CEO Julie Madden has been in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about helping with funds for the repairs.

"At this point, FEMA will cover 75 percent of any uninsured or uncovered costs," said Madden. "State EMA will cover 12.5 percent and we are going to do 12.5 percent."

Madden said she was made aware that they can possibly use some Advancement in Technology Funding money to cover some of the costs in the 12.5 percent.

FES renovation

The parking lot at Flomaton Elementary School has been completed and the fence is almost complete, as part of a renovation of the school cafeteria to make it bigger along with a new wing for the elementary school.

"That is a much, much needed part of what was missing for these schools, said Knott."

Knott said he received a Public School and College Authority (PSCA) number to begin the project and has contacted Lathan and Associates Architecture to get the architect contract in place.

Virtual school

"We are not where we need to be," said Knott. "We've developed a committee across the county to try to come together, communicate better, and figure out how we can make our program better and put in place what we are going to be able to do going forward because we've got barrier we need to address for next year."

Assistant Superintendent Sandra Reid said the school system had a very short time to develop a system when the COVID-19 lockdown was announced last March and thanked several people who have stepped up to work with schools and school staff to help develop the virtual school program.

Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor Jason Weeks said the state will not be allocating any funds for virtual school platform for next school year, so he is exploring options that best suit the needs of the students and provide the most teacher efficiency and ease of use so it syncs seamlessly with the student information system. Weeks said there have been several issues with the virtual platform that school administration had to address quickly and he is researching what some other schools are doing that is working well.

"As always, we want to remain fiscally responsible as stewards of the dollars," said Weeks.

He talked about school systems in Tennessee and Georgia that have had success with virtual school.

Discussion led to the burden of virtual school and traditional school for teachers, using CARES Act money and purchase services, or outside sources, to assist in the classroom today.

"The problem is everybody in the country was trying to get those sources," said Knott. "There were some restrictions with that CARES Act money. We are revamping, reallocating sources, working to try to make things better right now."

Knott said more CARES Act monies are coming and restrictions that were on the first monies will be lifted with this new funding. Personnel and funds that can be used to purchase the services are the two biggest obstacles, according to Knott.

In other business, the board:

- Approved of resolution titled "Resolution to approve the Extension of any Unused COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSLA) under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) until March 31, 2021, the usage of any unused EPSLA balance as of the end of business Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020 through March 31, 2021; of "eligible employees," as determined by the FFCRA, for those specifically enumerated COVID-19 related circumstances as identified in Section 5102 of the FFCRA. -Approved Series 2021 warrant issue (Refunding Series 2013 issue). Approval of the resolution authorizing the issuance, sale, delivery, and payment of $22,915,000 principal amount of Tax Anticipation Taxable Warrants, Series 2021, to be dated Feb. 11, 2021.

The next board meeting will be at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18, at Huxford Elementary School.