Penn Hills School District to continue temperature checks for students

Temperature checks for students at Penn Hills Elementary and Linton Middle School will continue, and masks remain mandatory at school district facilities, according to a reapproved health and safety plan.

School board members voted 6-2 on Jan. 26 to keep all things status quo with the school district covid mitigation efforts for at least the next 90 days.

Board members Rob Marra and Meryl Thomas dissented and Elizabeth Rosemeyer was absent.

“I’m not sure that these temperature checks add value,” Marra said. “They do make people feel better that we’re doing things to protect the kids, and I support that. The problem I have is the way we’re voting on this.”

The temperature checks were not specifically listed on the meeting agenda.

The motion made was for board members to “maintain status quo of all covid-19 mitigation procedures already in place and as outlined in the district’s health and safety plan.”

The plan was last reviewed and approved Oct. 27.

Thomas said she was against the use of temperature checks from the beginning.

The temperature checks, also referred to by board members as wellness checks, began last school year as part of the school district’s response to the pandemic.

Mobile Health Services checks the students as they enter the buildings.

Board Vice President Jackie Blakey-Tate said their professionals are trained to look at children and assess any symptoms.

Nearly 100 students have been sent home because of the screenings this school year, board President Erin Vecchio said.

Vecchio disputed claims of inaccurate temperature readings. She noted keeping all covid mitigation efforts in place was a recommendation by district physician Dr. Robert Crossey.

The health and safety plan is expected to be reviewed again in a few months.

“I’ve never heard anybody said that the (temperatures) weren’t right,” Vecchio said. “This is all about Bruce.”

District Solicitor Bruce Dice is part owner of the company doing the testing, Mobile Health Services.

The board also voted Wednesday night to accept a rate increase for Dice’s legal services. General solicitor services went from $95 per hour to $125 per hour.

Vecchio said Dice has not raised his rates for the district since 2008.

The health screenings originally were done at all schools. They were scaled back this school year to the elementary and middle school because many high schoolers are vaccinated.

The cost is about $4,500 a week. The district is reimbursed for the expense through federal covid relief funds.

Parent Heather Houlihan opposed the use of temperature checks. She said they have been inaccurate and are a waste of money. She lobbied for the district to spend the funds on more nurses for the district.

“I don’t know if there is a deal, a promise or a quid-pro-quo, but don’t lie and say this is for the parents, or worse, that this has anything to do with the safety of our kids,” Houlihan said.

Parent Laura Gabriel echoed Houlihan’s concerns.

“The temperature checks are asinine,” she said. “They make no sense. There are people who have covid who don’t have temperatures. … There’s kids being held up in the lobby getting temperature checks and being marked tardy. It’s just too much money that should be spent on helping the nursing staff out.”

Gabriel also said some parents may give medication to their children for a fever and send them to class anyway.

Patricia Gordon, a grandparent of a student, said temperature checks serve as another layer of protection for children; she didn’t care about the cost.

“It’s a small price to pay for the welfare and the safety and health of our young people,” Gordon said. “I would encourage the board to put the welfare of our young people (first); that you would vote that we would continue to do whatever we can above and beyond the temperature reading on the forehead.”