Mass vaccination programs pave the way for gradual return to school in Pennsylvania

Matt Jones breathed a sigh of relief Friday as he met with Jeannette High School Principal Joe Baker to chart the latest stage in a phased-in return to five-day-a-week in-person classes.

Like fellow school administrators across the region, the superintendent of Jeannette schools has spent countless hours on the phone, seeking vaccines for teachers and support personnel.

Some in the district have secured vaccinations either through two small clinics the school district set up or by qualifying at other public clinics by virtue of age or medical condition.

Nevertheless, Jones and his colleagues in school districts across the region welcomed the news that the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit was set to vaccinate some 2,500 school employees at a special clinic Saturday. The clinic was part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s program to offer the state’s first shipment of 94,000 shots of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to school employees in an effort to get Pennsylvania’s public schools back up and operating.

At Jeannette, where a beloved school secretary succumbed to covid-19 the week before Thanksgiving, no one makes light of the threat posed by the virus that has killed more than 530,000 Americans.

For weeks, the high school operated on a six-day cycle, rotating students in and out of the classroom for two days at a time to maintain public health protocols. Last week, the high school invited career tech students back full time. This week, Jeannette seniors will be offered the option of returning to the classroom five days a week.

“Once all of our staff who want the vaccine have it in their arms, it will be like having a huge weight removed,” Jones said.

Wolf’s program to vaccinate school and child care staff comes on the heels of growing pressure from teachers and students, who have had to make do with remote learning and hybrid programs.

Impact on schools

Jeannette wasn’t the only school to suffer losses.

Officials at the Pennsylvania State Education Association said they knew of 10 school employees across the state who died of covid-19.

Those deaths only exacerbated the rush to vaccinate school personnel.

Jones said it seemed as if every school administrator he knew was reaching out trying to schedule vaccine clinics. Some were hosting clinics last week even as the state launched its Johnson & Johnson clinics for school personnel.

About 3,000 Pittsburgh Public Schools employees were vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine Thursday and Friday at Heinz Field through clinics hosted by Giant Eagle.

In Westmoreland County, at least nine school districts — among them Jeannette, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Latrobe, Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant and Southmoreland — have hosted vaccine clinics where school personnel who qualified for shots were offered Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Shots in arms often are a precursor to a cautious return to the classroom in many schools that relied upon remote learning and hybrid class schedules as the virus raged over the past year.

At Greensburg Salem, where the Pfizer vaccine was offered at a clinic Friday, officials are planning to allow students to return to the classroom four days a week in April.

Like the Jeannette superintendent, school administrators across the region welcomed the state program that finally will allow all school employees to get the lifesaving vaccine.

New Kensington-Arnold School District acting Superintendent Jon Banko last week said he expected more than 150 employees to take advantage of the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit clinic Saturday. With the addition of those vaccinations, Banko said he expects the majority of district employees will have been vaccinated by the end of the month.

Despite the push to safely reopen schools, the vaccine program has not been without its critics. Some of have complained it amounted to allowing teachers to skip to the front of the line rather than waiting their turn.

PSEA spokesman Chris Lilienthal, however, said Wolf’s plan that set aside the state’s shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines for school personnel allows Pennsylvania to continue to vaccinate its most vulnerable residents with Moderna and Pfizer doses.

The state’s vaccine program for school personnel complements President Biden’s goal of reopening schools this year and comes as educators count their good fortune in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. The latest covid relief program includes about $130 billion for schools struggling to deal with the costs of remote learning, deep cleaning, reconfiguring classrooms, altering ventilation systems, purchasing PPE and helping students recover from what has been a lost year for some.

“Our members very much want to be back in classrooms,” Lilienthal said. “That’s the best way to ensure our students get a good educational experience. Now with this plan, we can move to safely open more schools on more days.”