MAY 22, 2020 | Message from the Executive Director
On behalf of the Boston Higashi School I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy Memorial Day weekend.
I would also like to update parents and school districts as to the COVID-19 crisis, and day and residential operations here at the school. The last report was on May 15, 2020.
First, however let me express how very proud and appreciative we are of our staff that have persevered and carried the load through this difficult COVID-19 crisis period. While many people have the Memorial Day off, these staff are asked to work the holiday in order to maintain the safest possible conditions at our campus for our students.
Our Residential Programs remain operational, still at a reduced number but we are pleased with the progress made. This is mainly due to the number of staff available and the fact that we need to keep students in separated groups or in isolation. This week we have about 74% (66% last week and 58% the week prior) of the Residential Students back on campus. We will continue to bring back students (weekly) based upon available staff and space – students continue to need to be spread out in small groups. All students that do come back are isolated or quarantined for 7 days.
Statistics:
Below are some of the current staffing statistics (cumulative) from Human Resources as of today.
Memo: Three staff have been excluded from this count because when they had their symptoms or test they had not worked at Higashi for about three weeks or more, due to an extended leave or extended vacation, etc.
Summary: We are pleased with the improvements at our facility. We are happy to report no new cases this week.
Day Care for Staff-We are giving consideration to reopening on June 1st:
Currently our Day Care for the children of staff is closed. The enrollment is about 40 children and therefore affects a number of staff. The Day Care is critical in order to have more staff available. Re-opening a portion of the day care and assessing the risks associated with that, and devising a plan for maximum safety have been on-going.
Today we had a consultation with our Pediatric Medical Consultant Dr. Sunog and we are now thinking of reopening the Luy/Higashi Day Care on or around Monday, June 1st in anticipation of having nearly 95-100% of Residential Program students safely back in our programing no later than mid-June.
Visitation Policy:
The Task Force is working on a policy/plan to enable parent visitations. We hope to have this information soon. We fully realize this is one of the hardest issues to deal with for students, parents and families. Hopefully we will be able to announce a plan and we anticipate that it will be at least two more weeks before visitations are permitted.
RE: Day Program
With respect to the Day School Program, Governor Baker issued orders to extend closure through the end of June 2020. However, there is no reopening date determined yet, so please do not count on any date until it is officially announced. I do think there will be some programming or camp like activities this summer on a limited basis.
Some of the information below is repetitive from the previous report.
Crisis Task Force:
The Boston Higashi School has a Crisis Team/Task Force that meets every day and is devoted to resolving all COVID-19 related issues. Much of our focus is devoted to the Re-Entry Plan for residential students currently at home. We will continue the re-entry process as staffing numbers improve and incidents of positive testing decrease.
The process is slower than we would like but we have to be sure staff is available and we cannot afford to have setbacks with reintroducing the virus to our campus.
As much as we would like to give affected families a timeframe when it is safe to bring their son or daughter back to school, the Task Force must reassess new developments and issues each and every day. Therefore, we might not be able to give as much advance notice to families as we would like.
Again, generally we will be asking students back based upon safety, staff availability in each division, determining the best location to house each group, and circumstances at the home of each student.
BHS Policy Regarding Student Illnesses:
To continue to be vigilant, and considering the outbreak we had at the beginning of April, the Boston Higashi School finds it necessary to continue to send students and staff home who exhibit signs of any illness. This is to protect each and every student on the campus. We are seeking alternatives to sending students home but nothing has been finalized yet. In making any determination regarding students and staff we will continue to follow the CDC and DPH regulations in consultation with our medical advisors and program/legal advisors.
Parents often ask what we are doing to keep their son or daughter safe:
The following safety procedures are in place.
Student temperatures are taken every four hours.
Students are isolated in groups of no more than four.
Students that have had contact with a person with a positive test are quarantined for 14 days and monitored for symptoms. Please note that quarantined students will need assistance (bathroom, meals, med. administration etc. from staff from time to time). Consequently a very strict quarantine is not completely possible.
Staff are required to wear masks at all times.
Upon return to the residence students with no symptoms are being quarantined in separate bedrooms for fourteen days.
Per State Public Policy – No visitors allowed. Unfortunately that includes family members.
Unavoidable visits like deliveries for food, medicine and supplies are isolated at certain entrances and areas.
Staff Temperatures are taken upon reporting for their shift and approximately every four hours.
All staff must practice safe social distancing – 6 feet apart from all other staff and from students as much as possible.
If students will tolerate a mask then obviously it is advisable to do so. Many do not tolerate a mask however.
Meals are served in socially distanced settings in the student isolated areas rather than the cafeteria.
Generally each student group has an assigned area of the residence and those not isolated have one designated classroom. When the weather cooperates there are numerous activities outside. The focus is on learning and activities in the usual manner.
Staff are working remotely with all Day Program Students. Please contact Director of Curriculum, Ms. Susan Perry, at susan.perry@bostonhigashi.org if you have any questions. The remote learning program also applies to the Residential Program students currently at home. Please make sure your child is getting these important services.
PPE Equipment:
The initial lack of PPE equipment for our staff was a major concern. We are grateful to those who donated masks, thermometers and other equipment recently and we are now better able to protect staff and students.Please continue to make donations. They are still needed. In fact, we are concerned about having multiple orders for gloves outstanding that have not arrived yet. In this case it is not the funding that is needed; it is the product’s availability
We continue to remain vigilant in our efforts to clean and sanitize our environment. We thank our dedicated maintenance staff for their efforts to keep everyone safe.
Many of our Education Office Staff/Case Management are working remotely and can be contacted to continue to offer advice, guidance and moral support.
Please reach out to us if greater assistance is needed in this area.
Finally, we are grateful to those parents, school districts and staff who have worked cooperatively as a team to help get us through this difficult time. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns. My email is mike.kelly@bostonhigashi.org.
