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COVID numbers remain low going into second quarter; admin hopeful

 

Last March, the world was caught off guard by the rapid succession of events catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Classes were cancelled, businesses temporarily closed, and millions quarantined in their home to wait out the pandemic. Like many schools in the area, Saint Louis U. High was forced to adapt. 

Fast forward seven months, and the school is entering a new phase of the pandemic. The warm weather is leaving, forcing many indoors where the risk of contracting the virus increases. Despite this, the school is confident in its ability to adapt and continue to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.

“I think it's important to point out that it's not just SLUH high that is going into the winter,” said Director of Student Health Scott Gilbert. “It's all of the schools in the area of city, county, state, and for that matter across the country, who are going into this period of time, this winter season, where we typically see flu and other types of communicable illnesses that make this tricky with COVID.”

The administration is looking at three potential difficulties going into the colder weather. The first item is the removal of the tents on the upper field and south field by the Field House. The five tents (four for students and one for faculty) helped ease congestion and provide additional space for classes and people to eat lunch without the tents 

“As it gets colder out, there's really gonna be no need for outside so that's going to have to change,” said Director of Security Dan Schulte. “Right now with lunch periods, the Commons is not congested at all because we have all the outdoor options.”

Use of large spaces like the Danis Lobby, Field House, Ignatius Conference Room, and more have all been proposed to help expand the capacity for lunch. While additional space is necessary, however, the Commons is still able to accommodate the majority of students in the hyflex schedule.

“But these are areas that we are eyeballing that could be potential for space,” said Gilbert. “Because we will need it. We won't need tons of it, most of it will be housed in the Commons and we will be able to safely put people there like we're doing now, but when the kids go outside right now, they definitely alleviate some of the congestion.”

Another item that has been considered is students’ use of winter coats. Without lockers, it will be tricky to store these items during the school day. While no solution has been found, Schulte assured that he is working out ways to make it easier for students. 

Lastly, the thermometers will have to be adjusted to account for the cooler temperatures.

“As you might suspect, colder weather will affect readings, and we'll need to calibrate the machinery in that regard,” said Principal Ian Gibbons, S.J.

While the transition to winter comes sooner, another question looms: what will school look like next semester? Part of that decision-making process requires analyzing the successes and failures of our current hyflex model that has been in use since early September. 

In that time, SLUH has reported just four students (only one in the recent week) and three faculty cases of COVID-19. A fifth student case is assumed positive but awaiting confirmation after testing irregularities brought into question their initial positive case.

“That is remarkable,” said Gibbons. “That really is a testament not only to the planning and all the work that was done to prepare the campus, but also the diligence that our students, our faculty, our staff, and our families have taken to make sure that we're complying with safety measures to allow us to remain open.”

An outbreak, according to SLUH, would be if at any time 5 percent of the student population came down with the virus, which would require about 50 SLUH students to have active cases.

“That's a lot of kids. And like I said, we're in the low single digits right now,” said Gilbert. “There are some times ahead of us that could be interesting and challenging, but if we're doing the right thing, I think that we should be able to push through this.”

As deliberation continues on next semester, faculty are now looking at whether a full return would be possible while also maintaining the high standards of safety.

Before the August return to school, faculty members spent lots of time measuring and plotting out what classrooms and public spaces could look like. Using six feet as the minimum distance, the school concluded that full attendance was simply not viable and came up with the current schedule where no more than half the students would be on campus at a time. 

“At the time, three feet was not an option,” said Gibbons. 

However, as schools have reopened—some adopting less than six feet of distance between students—the possibility of adopting reduced distancing has entered the conversation as a way to safely bring the full student population back.  

“Classroom size has been limited, and we're kind of trying to reevaluate how we eventually want to get back to full capacity,” said Schulte. “We can't give the full width of six (feet) of space between desks. We're looking at maybe four or five feet and kind of trying to find a way to, you know, mitigate that down a little bit less without going all the way down to three. Less than three is not going to be an option.”

Part of the discussion has also revolved around the possibility of utilizing other spaces like the wrestling room and theatre lounge as possible overflow classroom spaces as needed.

“We are trying to find a way to open the school back up full sooner rather than later,” said Schulte.

“What is on the table as far as possible changes that we might make?” said Gibbons. “I would say everything from a status quo to what we're doing with some slight modifications to looking at the possibility of having everyone back on campus.”

In the end, however, the decision for next semester will revolve around one thing: the health of the students. 

“What would be the criteria for a decision like that?” said Gibbons. “Certainly the safety of the community, the impactful formation experience of the community, certainly the hopes of students, families, the capacity within the building, to be able to not only safely but impactfully have classes. If we could do that in a way that would be constructive, we want to have as many students on campus as we can.”

Overall, these numbers give the administration concrete evidence that the steps taken so far have been working. While the official plan for next semester is set to be released the first week of November, Gibbons, Gilbert, and Schulte all stress the importance of people continuing to do their part in mitigating the spread. 

“Some of the big measures that we've taken will be unaffected by the changes in weather, said Gibbons. “That would be the check-ins, the temperature taking … the distancing, still all those handwashing pieces, the filtration system and the HVAC.”

Without student cooperation, according to Gilbert, the safety measures would not work, and therefore these low numbers are a testament to the hard work that students are doing following these protocols. 

“It's a credit to you guys (students) as well, because for the most part, you guys are adhering to the protocols and policies as well by wearing your mask and doing your best to keep your distance and following the rules in the classroom and in the way your car and up to school from your car and all that stuff,” said Gilbert. “You guys are doing a heck of a job as well.”

“I would definitely like to state the people's diligence and best practices here in the building but at home have been game changers for us,” said Gibbons. “We've seen and heard terrible stories of spreads at other places, and we just have not had that here, and that is a community testament.” 

art | Nathan Rich

 

 

 


 

 

 

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