Working with Your Local Board of Health
Author: Grace Galvin
While state and other authorities provided an initial round of direction and data regarding public health and safety during COVID-19, schools ultimately had to look for a community partner with public health expertise to help answer questions, provide local direction, and monitor data for their school district. In many communities, this type of partner may be the local board of health or health department, though in some cases a state department of public health or other knowledgeable, trusted public health partner can fill this role. This Spotlight shares the experiences of Norwood, Milford, and Uxbridge school districts in Massachusetts who worked with their local boards of health to support safely reopening schools.
| Building blocks for a good working relationship | Topics on which the school district and board of health can work together | Questions to ask the board of health |
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The “board of health” or “health department” is a local policy-making and governing body tasked with caring for the health of the public. Local boards of health help communities with flu/immunization clinics, water safety, the opioid crisis, and threats like Eastern equine encephalitis, just to name a few.
Milford Public Schools
Superintendent Kevin McIntyre describes a longstanding positive relationship with the Milford Board of Health that set the tone for their engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We work directly with the director, Jackie Murphy, who is phenomenal. She really knows what she’s talking about, she’s reasonable and flexible, and we’re able to work with each other to create the best outcome.” McIntyre and Murphy, along with the Director of Nursing for Milford Schools, Lee Waingortin, first interacted with regard to COVID-19 when an individual infected at the Biogen conference was identified in Milford. Working together, they determined the need to close the school two days before Massachusetts Governor Baker’s school closure order on March 15, 2020.
McIntyre says now they are in touch half a dozen times per week by phone or text. Over the summer, they worked together on Milford’s protocols for screening for COVID-19 symptoms, what to do if there is a positive case, and mask protocols. They also performed walk-throughs of the schools to support the assessment of air quality and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The Milford Board of Health serves as a key decision maker in the district’s guidelines for school closure. Their protocol states, “Milford’s Board of Health will be contacted to review the need for closure of part of or all of one school.” Leveraging the data and epidemiology expertise of the local board of health reduces the need for school officials to become bogged down in the numbers and brings that expertise to the table for decision-making.
Uxbridge Public Schools
In Uxbridge, the board of health and school district had worked together on issues of food safety and Eastern equine encephalitis but the COVID-19 pandemic brought them even closer. Now, Frank Tiano, Superintendent of Uxbridge School, says they are communicating three to four times a week with Dr. Kristen Black, Director of Public Health. “Working with the town physician, as well as the health director, helped us get feedback on school committee policy on masks. They attended school committee meetings to provide presentations on social distancing, and review and work together on protocols and materials… we had a great partnership.”
Tiano describes their first COVID-19 case which tested their protocols. “It went as well as can be expected.” The school followed the plans that were built from the Parabola Project, MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and other guidance in partnership with the Uxbridge Board of Health. “In this case we determined that no contact tracing was necessary based on seating charts and social distancing. However, in the communications that we sent out, the letters, that language seemed to create more stress. So, in working with the Uxbridge Board of Health, we modified the language to say that, as needed, contact tracing will be performed and those individuals will be contacted by the board of health. And we agreed that everyone would be notified, since we know they are going to find out anyway.” Tiano and his staff stayed open to improvements in their communication protocols and consulted with the board of health on the improvements.
Tiano described feeling grateful for the Uxbridge Board of Health's partnership in determining the business plan for reopening the school offices which helped the operational team to feel safe. “Going through all the guidance is overwhelming and having a partner to check with has been great.” Along with Director Black, Tiano and his team toured the buildings to test the ventilation and had rooms fixed that needed to be improved. Having an authority to support the public health and safety of staff was crucial: “the teachers might say ‘but the air…’ but we have told them, just like how they could shut us down they won’t let us open unless we are safe. They won’t let us bring the children in unless we are safe.” In addition, the board of health helped the food services team create a plan for lunch in classrooms and lunch at home for those that need it. “I feel truly fortunate, we lucked out,” Tiano said, when describing his partnership with Director Black and her team.
Norwood Public Schools
In Norwood, the local board of health has a relationship with the school district dating back to the earlier 1900s. During COVID-19, they have also added daily data sharing to inform daily operations. Jill Driscoll, Nursing Lead for Norwood Public Schools, shared, “It’s pretty quick here in Norwood. If there’s a positive case or if there’s a chance you might have been in the vicinity of a positive person, we’re going to call you.” This type of rapid information sharing means less anxiety about if the system works and less time an infected individual might be unknowingly spreading COVID-19.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started and the Massachusetts Governor Baker closed schools, Driscoll knew that her colleagues at the Norwood Board of Health were going to be overwhelmed and offered the Director of the Norwood Health Department, Sigalle Reiss, 12 school nurses to support the contact tracing effort. “When the schools closed in the beginning of March, I said to the school nurses, ‘They’re going to need a ton of help.’ So, all of the Norwood school nurses did contact tracing through mid-July.”
Overall, the strong partnership during this time has helped with education and general understanding, “I feel like I really understand how much COVID-19 is in Norwood. They let me know if our numbers are changing. It’s great to have somebody that really has great public health knowledge and how things are tracked, traced, and organized ... they are so willing to share their expertise and work with us and come up with plans to keep our students and staff safe.” Director Driscoll emphasized the value of connecting with the local board of health by saying, “I think everyone has figured out that if you didn’t have [a relationship] before, it is valuable now.”
Summary
Local boards of health are powerful allies who can help use data and their public health expertise to turn questions into answers and to support the leadership of school superintendents, nurses, and others serving the frontlines of school reopening. Here are some recommendations from school leaders on how to work with your local board of health:
“Build a partnership based on transparent communication.” Kevin McIntrye (Milford)
“Be open to learning from each other.“ Jill Driscoll (Norwood)
“Figure out the best way to communicate, if by email or by phone; set up a biweekly Zoom meeting with them. Keep communication lines open, be positive, ask for their input, keep them visible (school committee meetings, school nurse meetings, etc.), and ask them to present.” Lee Waingortin (Milford)
“Determine the teams on both sides and what your roles and responsibilities are: having someone who understands public health and gets reliable answers when they don't know the answer creates a strong trusting partnership.” Frank Tiano (Uxbridge)
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This Spotlight was created by the Parabola Project.