Protecting privacy, coordinating partnerships and choosing locations familiar to the public are key as superintendents embrace an “opportunity to save lives.”
From K-12 Dive
By Naaz Modan
April 5, 2021
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out at varying paces, districts are setting up school-based clinics and working with local health organizations to get shots to school staff at other community vaccination events.
“We all know schools get used for a lot of different events…they’re a real center of a community and so it’s not difficult to set something like that up,” said Kathleen Ethier, a public health official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a March webinar.
While this process has been arduous for many administrators, it has been equally rewarding, they say.
“See it as an opportunity to save lives,” said Krestin Bahr, superintendent of Eatonville School District #404 in Washington. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to partner with medical professionals to do something bigger than you’ve ever done before.”
Nurture relationships with local health organizations and pharmacies
Districts are working with neighboring schools, pharmacies, hospitals and health departments to organize school staff vaccination events. Some have also benefited from nurturing relationships with local health departments during this process.
Winfried Feneberg, superintendent of New Hampshire’s Kearsarge Regional School District, said his schools were “on the top of the list” when vaccines became available as a result of the nursing staff’s pre-established relationships with the local public health network. The district scheduled vaccinations for approximately 325 of its 400 school staff who received their first shot at a school-based clinic on March 19.
Others had to dig to find doses. Brian Toth, superintendent of St. Marys Area School District in Pennsylvania, repeatedly called the local hospital, pharmacy and health center over the course of several weeks to inquire about getting eligible staff vaccinated. “We offered to each of those different providers, ‘If you need to use a space to vaccinate general public, our staff [or] staff from other schools, let us know. We have the space,’” Toth said.
Eventually, Toth got word from a local pharmacy that it would prioritize the district’s highest-need teachers. The local hospital also successfully ran two vaccination clinics out of St. Marys Area High School’s gymnasium.
Pre-plan using signup sheets
Superintendents who spoke to K-12 Dive said planning for vaccination clinics can take anywhere from a few days to months, depending on availability and the readiness of local pharmacies or hospitals to prioritize school staff. However long the waiting period, though, it is still important to pre-plan.
“It was our intention that we didn’t want to waste a single shot,” said Feneberg. “It’s too precious right now.”
Photo: Permission granted by Eatonville School District
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