School Nurses Struggle To Get PPE Heading Into New School Year
BUTLER COUNTY (KDKA) -- The countdown is on for kids to head back to the classroom, but some districts are hitting roadblocks as they prepare for the transition.
Liz Williams is the Nurse Administrator at Seneca Valley School District and has spent the summer working with her team of 11 nurses to handle the change.
"We are going to do a lot of education with parents keeping their kids home. If they are sick and maybe keeping them home just to evaluate them in the morning and bringing them late if they feel like they can make it through the day," Williams said.
The goal is to have fewer kids coming into the nurse's office as the kids who are not health stay at home. For those who do come to school, the team is stocked on extra masks and thermometers, but other supplies are not as easy to get.
"Gowns would be the thing we are having the most difficulty finding. We have some available to us so what we are doing is just splitting them between the buildings," Williams said.
This district isn't the only one. Baldwin-Whitehall School Superintendent told KDKA's Nicole Ford that the district was struggling to get gowns and gloves in by the start of the year.
At North Allegheny School District, administrators said there is enough PPE to start the year, but are waiting for the air filter units and cleaning sprayers to arrive. They are hopeful those will be in before school starts.
"Depending on what you are looking for can be challenging, we had trouble with the plexi-glass and things to make our offices and desk safe," said Dr. Mark Holtzman who's the McKeesport Superintendent.
As the start of the school year creeps closer, each district is making sure it's as prepared as can be.
"We've had decent luck with different kind of sanitizing equipment and things, but I don't know how long those things will last," Holtzman said.