Fighting to Keep School Open Amidst a Global Pandemic
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Harrison High School Harrison NY 10528 www.harrisoncsd.org January 2021 Volume 25 Issue 1 Fighting To Keep School Open Amidst A Global Pandemic Zach Pearson Sports Editor This school year, amidst the COVID-19 because if somebody has to quarantine they need pandemic, Harrison High School was able to to know that as soon as possible so they're not offer a hybrid option for classes. This hybrid out exposing other people if potentially they’ve option gives students two paths of learning: contracted it,” Ms. Beukema emphasized. either attend class virtually from home via The determining factor in deciding whether Zoom, or to attend school in person every the school goes fully virtual is classroom cover- other day. age by faculty and whether there is enough fac- Recently, there has been a significant ulty to supervise each room. For example, Ms. number of faculty and staff required to quar- Beukema stated, “We would welcome students in antine due to COVID-19 exposure. For in- the door even if only… 100 of them can be there.” stance, on Friday, December 18, 19 addition- However, Ms. Beukema stated that “What it al staff members were required to quarantine, comes down to is whether or not we have enough stemming from just three positive cases with faculty and staff to actually cover classes.” students. This resulted in a decision to move Teachers are not only contact-traced in the school online for the remainder of Decem- school, but outside of school as well, which can ber. The decision to move school to a fully vir- also affect the number of staff in school. School tual format depends on several factors: con- administration, which includes Ms. Beukema as tact tracing, classroom coverage by faculty, well as Assistant Principals Mrs. Laurie Griffo government guidelines, and more. and Mr. Larry Mastrota, reassesses faculty and Principal Kimberly Beukema has been staff coverage almost daily and does everything helping with these instances of contact trac- it can to keep students in the building. This can ing, and she knows how to evaluate these include individual classes being dismissed to the factors perhaps better than anyone. During a small gym to Zoom into class, or having a substi- recent interview, she explained all the details. quarantine. Gathering this data proved cumbersome at first. tute teacher supervising students. Basically, when First, Ms. Beukema stated that when planning to open last However, with Student Government feedback, now individuals there aren’t enough teachers in the building, that's when ad- fall, the Harrison Central School District (HCSD) decided to are only required to scan individual QR codes on each desk ministrators must consider whether to move the school online. use an application (or app) called Crisis Go, and specifically in every communal space in school via Safe2Speakup, giving Governor Andrew Cuomo's orders are to keep all schools its Safe2Speakup feature, as a platform to, according to the each person’s exact location and time to Administration, when open whenever possible, as long as it is safe enough and there HCSD website, “...send a daily digital survey to parents and not in a classroom for more than ten minutes. This information, are enough faculty and staff to do so. Harrison Central School staff, which requires them to answer COVID-19 screening ques- along with classroom schedules, is used to track everyone in District operates under that guidance. But Ms. Beukema reit- tions…” related to their (or their student’s) personal health sta- erated that when there is not enough teacher coverage for tus, regardless of their path of learning. If the questions in the all the classes, it is up to Ms. Beukema, Mrs. Griffo, and Mr. questionnaire are answered with a ‘no,’ the person will get a Mastrota, in coordination with the Superintendent of Schools “green badge,” a QR code that must be shown before entering Dr. Louis Wool, to decide whether to close the school building the building. “What it comes down to to students. This is a team decision based on all the available When someone receives a yellow, orange, or red badge information that the school can gather each day. after completing the survey, there are certain precautions that On December 28, Dr. Wool announced that all Harrison are taken immediately. Ms. Beukema and Mrs. Lisa Arlotta (the is whether or not we have schools would suspend in-person instruction from January 4 Harrison High School nurse) receive an “escalation report.” through the Martin Luther King Day holiday, instead offering live Mrs. Arlotta then makes contact with that person to get further enough faculty and staff virtual classes. After a lengthy analysis, Dr. Wool and the Board information, and tracks relevant information such as quarantine of Education reached this decision to ensure a safe and healthy status, test results, and symptoms. In general, not getting a to actually cover classes," environment for all concerned upon returning from the holiday green badge will result in an individual not being able to return break. This helps ensure long-term continuity of instruction and to campus until a negative COVID-19 test result or a note from said Principal Beukema. will increase in-person instructional days in the future. a doctor is presented. Ms. Beukema laughed at how, in some Dr. Wool noted how, since the Thanksgiving break, stu- instances, parents “mis-fill out” the form (by clicking “yes” on dent, faculty, and staff quarantines, school closures, and posi- every question, when only “yes” for remote learning only that tive COVID-19 cases increased; 285 students and 102 faculty day was needed), resulting in an accidental escalation report. the school. were quarantined. This stressful experience, along with expert In addition to using Safe2Speakup as a way to screen ev- When the school is notified of a positive case, according to opinions of a likely post-holiday surge in infections, made this eryone before entering a school building, it is also a very effi- New York State Health Department guidelines, the school must difficult decision warranted. cient way to 'contact trace,' the process of notifying all people include a 48-hour window prior to an individual's positive test or Our holiday break saw no respite from positive COVID-19 who have had contact with someone who tested positive for becoming symptomatic for contact tracing purposes. Working cases; the administrative team spent Christmas Day contact COVID-19, and need to quarantine. This is the most important together with the Health Department, the school then emails, tracing and informing families of necessary quarantines. tool used to help decide to move the school fully virtual. texts, calls, and sends official quarantine letters to parents of Dr. Wool’s concern was that a return to in-person instruc- Different areas in the school have different quarantine reg- students who need to quarantine. Ms. Beukema, however, calls tion too quickly would create an additional strain. A 10-day virtu- ulations. For instance, all individuals in any classroom or office all faculty members directly. For each positive student case, Ms. al learning period allows post-holiday infections to emerge prior space for more than ten minutes with someone who has tested Beukema estimates that about 60 students and at least seven to a return to in-person learning, minimizing instructional disrup- positive for COVID-19, must quarantine. But in communal ar- faculty members (though it has gone as high as 14) must quar- tions and infection spread in our schools. It remains imperative eas, such as the Student Union, HPAC, both gyms, and patios, antine. for all to follow CDC guidelines in order to keep us all in school only those who came within six feet of the positive case must “Regardless of what time of day it is, we start the process, for as long as possible. In News... In Arts... Inside... Get to Mental Health Dilemma.....Page 5 know Antigone 3021! The End of Snow Days?....Page 7 your new History Repeats Itself........Page 8 Congressman! Page 11 The Queen's Gambit........Page 13 90-Second Interviews......Page 17 Page 3 January 2021 2 Husky Herald HHS Club Members Accrue Distinguished Honors Aidan Lefkowitz and Luke Wong Opinions Editor and Co-Managing Editor Despite the COVID-19 pandemic ham- high school has been Harrison’s Model Con- all members were able to transfer their legisla- that, “Coaching the team during the pandemic pering the ability of many extracurricular clubs gress. At the virtual Princeton and Yale Model tive skills into the realm of Zoom.” has involved several major adjustments, since to host meetings, organize events, and partic- Congress competitions, several mock politi- Finally, Harrison’s nationally lauded Lin- we’re not traveling to tournaments this year. ipate in competitions, many of Harrison High cians received awards for their performances coln-Douglas debate team has continued its Although we do miss the travel, we’ve been School’s clubs have been able to make the and preparation. At Princeton’s virtual Model longtime record of stellar performances and able to participate in a much more diverse set most of the opportunities still presented. Congress competition, Harrison students Roya rankings throughout its season. Harrison has of tournaments than we normally do, and have Harrison’s premier business club, DECA, Azar, Alec Udell, David Griff, Jack Kelly, Aidan won 11 tournaments so far, and has secured 17 also been able to work with Jennifer Melin, our has continued its weekly practices and was Lefkowitz, and Eve Rabin all were recognized qualifying slots for the upcoming Tournament of phenomenal assistant coach, who lives in Tex- even able to secure several awards at a recent for their exceptional performances.