PLANNING FOR PANDEMIC FLU OR OTHER HEALTH RELATED CRISIS

Transcription

1 2500 PLANNING FOR PANDEMIC FLU OR OTHER HEALTH RELATED CRISIS Background. While the Bethlehem Central School District maintains an emergency management plan in compliance with New York State Education Law, such plans do not provide for emergencies that might involve the closing of all schools for any extended period of time. The looming threat of a worldwide flu pandemic requires specific plans, both for the protection of our students, employees, and facilities, and for the uninterrupted delivery of instruction and other educational services to our students, even under conditions wherein our school buildings may be closed for weeks or even months at a time. At best, the flu will not develop into a pandemic, or even be so widespread as to cause the pre-emptive closing of schools either by the Board of Education of the Bethlehem Central School District or by a superior governmental authority, and this threat will have done little more than reveal a gap in the District s comprehensive emergency management plan, and, thereby, provide the District with the opportunity to modify its plan accordingly. At worst, the flu will develop into a full-fledged pandemic, and the plan, outlined herein, may save many of our students and employees from its worst effects, protect our facilities, and protect our students from the detrimental effects of an extended period of interruption to their education. I. Key Concepts Concerning Pandemic Planning and Containment. A. Bethlehem s plan for flu pandemic relies on the strict application and enforcement of a few basic principles. These principles include Self-Sufficiency, Hygiene, Isolation and Protection. B. Self-Sufficiency: The District s ability to fulfill the provisions of its pandemic plan without reliance on any superior government agency (federal and state). i. Continuity of Education: The uninterrupted delivery of instruction to the students of the District. This policy will be used as a guideline for emergency management in the event of a pandemic flu crisis, as well as other health related crises that may necessitate the implementation of this policy.

2 ii. Responsibility and Cooperation: All District stakeholders assume personal responsibility for avoiding unprotected exposure to the flu, and for meeting the mission(s) of the pandemic plan. All District stakeholders must cooperate in a selfless manner, doing whatever is necessary and safe, in order for the pandemic plan to serve our children effectively. iii. Hygiene: Hygiene involves strict protocols regarding the washing/disinfecting of hands, and the control/containment of coughing and sneezing. iv. Isolation: The concept of isolation as applied to schools may involve the closing of schools as a strategy to minimize the spread of the pandemic flu virus among groups of children and adults. As applied to working groups, isolation implies a minimum of physical contact between members of the same working group, so as to avoid exposing the whole group to an infected member. v. Protection: All parties (employee-employer, student-employee, or small group) involved in any required person-to-person contact shall be provided and required to use protection (e.g. masks) appropriate to the interaction. vi. Benchmarking: Vital statistics (such as number of teacher/student contacts, verification of completed assignments, etc.) shall be maintained on daily, weekly, monthly, etc. bases via the SMS student management software system, with regular backups of data. II. Mission Statements: Bethlehem s plan for a flu pandemic shall be guided by the following statements of mission: a. Maintain uninterrupted delivery of instruction and monitoring of student progress. b. Prevent the spread of the pandemic flu between and among students, employees, and other District stakeholders, specifically as they execute their responsibilities associated with this plan. c. Preserve the sovereignty and autonomy of the District.

3 III. Uninterrupted Education. d. Maintain the professionalism and effectiveness of the governance of the District. e. Comply with directives and/or guidelines issued by any legitimate higher governmental authority. f. Maintain the viable, productive, and effective employment of District employees. g. Maintain the integrity of District contracts with its employee bargaining units. h. Maintain a sense of community and a corporate identity among the stakeholders of the District. i. Maintain a commitment among all district stakeholders to the District s formal mission statement relative to student achievement, professionalism, and stability. The delivery of uninterrupted instruction to all Bethlehem students will require the use of whatever methods, mode, and media are and may be available to the District. IV. Hygiene, Isolation, Protection. Protocols of hygiene should be encouraged prior to and throughout any flu pandemic. They will include such things as hand-washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, handling materials, maintaining hygienic space between people, and disinfecting facilities. Students and employees will receive information in these protocols. The District will make available appropriate hygienic supplies and materials as appropriate; it may include: tissues, masks, antimicrobial hand cleaning solutions, and masks. Maintenance and custodial staff will take direction from the local health department regarding disinfection efforts. V. Benchmarking. Benchmarks, as identified by the state and county health departments will be identified for all areas covered by the plan. These will include regular checkpoints for such things as student contacts, the levels of contamination in key district facilities, the inventory of hygiene supplies, etc. These benchmarks will be monitored, summarized, and reported to the appropriate supervisory personnel as directed by state and county health departments.

4 VI. Sovereignty and Autonomy of District Facilities. The District has agreed to allow the Red Cross to take over its school buildings in the event of a natural disaster. Higher governmental authority may also commandeer the district s facilities. Accordingly, the District should declare the Education Services Center (ESC) as its own command center, vital to the fulfillment of its responsibilities during any flu pandemic, declare it as sovereign, and not allow any other agency or governmental body access to it. VII. Pre-Pandemic Planning and Preparations. A number of items recommended in this plan require immediate attention. These include: a. Review and adoptions of policies authorizing the plan as well as specific provisions of the plan. b. The purchase of supplies and material as required to meet the guidelines and directives of the state and county health departments. c. Maintain, back-up, and update student information data on the SMS database. d. Inform staff and students in pandemic hygiene requirements. e. Within one year of the approval of this policy plans will be developed by the following departments: Health Services, Operations and Maintenance, Transportation, Food Services, and Technology. These plans will be reviewed as a part of the district s safety and emergency planning process. f. In an emergency situation cross training of key positions may need to occur to ensure continuity of services. VIII: Pre-Pandemic Preventative Measures. If and when a pandemic flu is confirmed to be in North America the following actions should be taken: a. Attend to directions and information provided by the state and county health departments. b. Closing of any District facilities, including athletic fields and playgrounds as directed by the state and county health departments.

5 c. Implement pandemic hygiene requirements among students and staff. IX. Centers of Responsibility During an Flu Pandemic. All authority and policies of the District shall remain in full force. The duties of all employees (including administrators, teachers, and staff) may change from current duties, and may vary between similar categories of employees, and may change during any implementation of this plan as necessary to meet the plan s mission. The Centers of Responsibility include: a. Governance Center: The Governance Center will consist of the Board of Education and the Superintendent. Because the District can not function without at least four Board members, and, therefore can not risk the infection of the whole group by one of its members, the Governance Center will operate, where state law permits, on a decentralized basis, consisting of eight cells, located at the person (via , internet, phone, courier, etc.) of each of the seven Board of Education members and the Superintendent of Schools. If current state law regarding Board meeting and voting is not suspended during any pandemic, any meeting requiring the physical presence of Board members shall be conducted under permissible protocols of isolation (e.g., in a large room, with Board members and central administration sitting at least six feet apart from one another. Public attendance at any such meeting shall be either electronically (e.g., closed circuit TV) or with physical barrier to airflow, but allowing for visual and auditory observation. The authority, function, and general conduct of business and meetings of the Board of Education (Governance Center) will remain unchanged from the present. b. Command Center: The Command Center will consist of the Superintendent of Schools, the Assistant Superintendent for Educational Programs and Instruction, and the Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance. These individuals shall exercise the principle of isolation wherever possible. The Command Center will oversee all phases of the implementation of the pandemic plans, and monitor, on

6 a daily basis, the benchmarks associated with each of the other Centers of Responsibility, and will report to the Governance Center, on at least a weekly basis, a summary of the status of these benchmarks. c. Information and Communications Center: The Information and Communications Center will consist of the Superintendent of Schools, and, as appropriate, the Communications Specialist. The Superintendent of Schools shall serve as the spokesperson for the District. The Communications Specialist will be responsible for responding to all concerns, and providing clarification. The Communications Center will report to the Command Center, on a daily basis, the status of its benchmarks. d. Instructional Center: The Instructional Center will consist of the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendent, the Director of Pupil Personnel Services and the Director of Computer Technology. The Instructional Center will oversee the delivery of all phases of instruction and monitoring of student work and progress during any pandemic. The Instructional Center will direct, schedule, and monitor the delivery of instruction by all appropriate means including direct instruction by teachers, Internet instruction, and correspondence instruction. The Instruction Center will coordinate the scheduling and supervision of teaching staff with the building administrators, and monitor the instructional benchmarks on a daily basis. e. Financial Center: The Financial Center will consist of the Superintendent of Schools, the Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance. The Financial Center will be responsible for maintaining the business operations of the District as normal, including purchasing, payroll, receivables, and budget development. The Financial Center will, also oversee the facilities, security, and decontamination functions, under the direction of the Supervisor of Facilities and Operations. The Financial Center will, also, oversee the logistic function, which will be responsible for delivering and picking up instructional materials to all students. The Financial Center will, also, be responsible for the oversight of the hygiene and health function, which will be responsible for the enforcement of hygienic supplies and protocols.

7 X. Recovery. The provisions of this plan, including hygiene, command structure, flexibility of work assignments and schedules, etc., shall remain in effect through a period of recovery. The duration of any such recovery period will depend on information received at that time from some appropriate higher level of government. If should be noted, also, that the provisions of this plan may be implemented, lifted, and implemented again, on a monthly and/or yearly basis, as the cycle of any flu pandemic may require. Upon return to school from any extended, closing, provisions will be made to assess the status of student skills and knowledge relative to the District s established learning standards. As such time, remedial services will be provided as necessary and appropriate for each student. XI. Evaluation of Bethlehem s Plan for a Flu Pandemic. This plan shall undergo continuous evaluation to determine the effectiveness of all of its components. Modification to the plan shall be made immediately as necessary during any phase of its implementation.

8 APPENDIX

9 PANDEMIC INFLUENZAE CONTACT INFORMATION DEPARTMENT TITLE ACDOH Commissioner ACDOH Asst. Commissioner ACDOH Medical Director ACDOH Epidemiologist ACDOH Emergency Preparedness NYSDOH Commissioner NYSDOH Director Epidemiology NYSDOH Director Communicable Disease PHONE NYSDOH Important web sites: Albany County Department of Health: New York State Department of Health: Centers for Disease Control: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: World Health Organization:

10 BETHLEHEM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PANDEMIC INFLUENZAE CONTACT INFORMATION Name TITLE WORK PHONE Superintendent Assistant Superintendent School Physicians (Inside) Director of Child Nutrition Programs Director of Transportation PPS Director Director of Facilities and Operations Communications Specialists Clarksville Nurse High School Nurse Slingerlands & ELC Nurse Middle School Nurse Glenmont Nurse High School Nurse Elsmere Nurse Slingerlands & ELC Nurse Middle School Nurse Hamagrael Nurse October 22,

11 Guidelines for Keeping Children Home From School 1. Temperature of 100 degrees or higher: child may return to school when the temperature is below 100 degrees for 24 hours without medication. 2. Vomiting or diarrhea: child may return to school when symptoms are gone for 24 hours. 3. Coughing excessively: the child may need to be examined by a medical provider. 4. Strep throat: child may return to school after being treated with antibiotics for 24 hours. 5. Eye symptoms such as redness, discharge, itching, etc.: child may need to be examined by a medical provider to rule out an infection and if an antibiotic is recommended the child should remain home for 24 hours after starting the medication. 6. Unusual draining rash, wound, or sore: child may need to be examined by a medical provider to rule out an infection. 7. Too tired or sleepy: if the child is too tired/sleepy from an illness to profit from sitting in class all day, he/she should remain home to rest. 8. Any condition that may be serious or contagious to others. Adoption date: June 20, 2007