SCSD Blog

2011-03-29T10:03:00.002-04:00

The calculated major costs associated with sports will be posted this morning to the district website under the DISTRICT link. The blog on the district budget will close as of today and comments to any of the posts will not be published from this time forward. I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the blog and while many different opinions exist as to the governor's budget proposal and how the district should respond to the reduced funding, the opportunity to read your concerns and ideas was helpful to this superintendent.
Thank you,
Bronson Stone
Superintendent

2011-03-28T07:23:00.002-04:00

The Board of Education has discussed the concept of pay-to-play. The impact of instituting such a program would have to be weighed against the potentially negative impact it could have on low-income students. As for dropping some programs and services for students to save jobs, the mission of the district is to provide services and programs for students.

2011-03-26T14:44:00.003-04:00

The special education programs that have returned to the school district over the past eight years were returned when the tuition costs and the transportation costs for the out-of-district programs made it financially beneficial to the school district to return the programs to the school district. Tuition costs for out-of-district placements can range from $13,000/year/student to $30,000/year/student or more.

2011-03-26T07:50:00.002-04:00

The major costs for each sport sponsored by the school district will be posted on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. The co-sponsorship football program that is funded and hosted by Susquehanna Community allows Susquehanna Community students to participate in soccer, wrestling and golf programs completely funded and hosted by Blue Ridge.

2011-03-25T07:40:00.003-04:00

The Blended Schools Program will be reduced for next year. The district only plans on purchasing the technology component of the program (Blackboard) at a cost of approximately $12,000/year. Blended Schools will continue to be used for posting homework assignments and for creating on-line courses/learning experiences.

2011-03-24T10:21:00.003-04:00

If the decision was ever made to eliminate separate instruction in art, music, technology and library at the elementary school, the academic standards associated with those subjects would be taught during the instructional day by the certified elementary education teachers.

2011-03-24T07:59:00.002-04:00

The Scranton Times article simply divided district budgets by their enrollment to arrive at that figure. The actual instructional costs per student for 2010 were approximately 2/3rds of that amount. Every private and parochial school should be able to educate their select students at a lower cost than public schools given that private and parochial schools do not have to accept special education students or English language learners; they do not have to pay retirement contributions to PSERS; the transportation costs for the majority of their students are paid for by the public school districts that are within 10 miles of the private and parochial schools; and they do not have to follow the majority of the other mandates that public schools have to follow. Also, the budget numbers for 2009/10 & 2010/11 are higher than any other budget year because of the inclusion of federal stimulus dollars. These funds were provided to all schools to be spent over a two year period. They will not be included in the 2011/12 budget and the budget will be significantly less.
As for health care, in the last contract negotiations the health care package was converted from Traditional Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Blue Care PPO with co-pays.

2011-03-24T07:55:00.003-04:00

Yes, the public is allowed to attend both sessions. However, the Board of Education will be in executive session during the work session to discuss legal issues and personnel issues. Executive session only involves the Board of Education and the administration.

2011-03-21T10:50:00.002-04:00

The K4 Program was created with state funds, not federal funds. The district created the K4 Program with the Accountability Block Grant. Federal funds were used this year to convert the K4 Program from a half-day program to a full-day program. The federal funds covered the cost of the third teacher needed to covert the program from a half-day to a full-day.
As for the effectiveness of K4 in relation to reducing the special education teaching staff at Susquehanna Community, the reduction in special education numbers at the elementary school has allowed the district to bring back certain out-of-district programs, like autistic support and emotional support, and offer them at the elementary school.

2011-03-21T08:58:00.002-04:00

I believe the Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Program (K4) to be a highly effective program for ensuring all students come to the district's Five-Year-Old Kindergarten Program with the necessary early literacy skills to be successful learners. The K-4 Program, along with the elementary school's RtI Program (Response to Intervention), can be attributed to helping reduce the district's percentage of students identified as special education over the past few years.

2011-03-20T21:54:00.002-04:00

The proposed salary freeze referenced in some of the postings was presented to the different labor groups last week. The responses from the three labor groups will be received prior to the next school board meeting. If agreed to by all three labor groups, the savings would reduce the number of positions that may need to be eliminated for next year.

2011-03-18T18:58:00.003-04:00

Thank you for the comments to the blog. Please realize that I will not publish any comments containing profane language. As for Family & Consumer Science teaching sexual education and child birth, the reproduction system and related topics are and will continue to be covered in the health and biology classes. As for the management team contract, it will be posted on Monday.

2011-03-17T14:21:00.002-04:00

The Board of Education's April meeting will be held on April 6th at 7:00 PM in the high school cafeteria. The Board of Education's work session will be held on April
5th in the administration office at 7:00 PM.

2011-03-17T07:43:00.002-04:00

Much discussion related to the district's budget situation occurred at the Board of Education's work session and public meeting this week. The following are cost cutting measures proposed by the Superintendent at the March work session of the Susquehanna Community School District Board of Directors:
-Reduce building-level expenditures by $100,000
-Reduce athletic expenditures by $30,000
-Reduce maintenance and technology expenditures by $35,000
-Eliminate Department Head and Grade Span Leader Positions
-Reduce from two school plays per year to one school play per year
-Eliminate paid lunch duties at the junior/senior high school
-Convert Behind-The-Wheel Driver Education to a student fee-based program
-Eliminate additional security at low attendance events held at the school campus
-Eliminate the marching band program
-Reduce the activity bus to two nights per week and modify the activity bus route

Potential staffing cuts that have been discussed by the Board of Education at the work session:
-Elimination of the high school's Family & Consumer Science Program
-Conversion of K4 back to a ½ day program
-Conversion of the high school library to a teacher-resource center and the elimination of one high school library/English teacher
-Elimination of the position of High School Assistant Principal
-Elimination of separate instruction in Elementary Art, Music, Technology & Library
-Elimination of following non-instructional positions:
o Copier Room Aide
o Security Guard
o Part-time Maintenance
o Technology Assistant
o High School Front Office Cleric
o One K4 Aide

None of the above proposals have been formally acted upon by the Board of Education at this time.

2011-03-09T07:43:00.003-05:00

Governor Corbett announced his budget proposal yesterday before the state legislature. The governor's budget calls for a reduction in basic education subsidy for all schools in the Commonwealth. If the governor's proposal becomes a reality, the Susquehanna Community School District will lose $657,000 in Basic Education Subsidy and $220,322 in Accountability Block Grant funds. The loss of over $800,000 in operating revenue will force the Board of Education to adopt expenditure reduction strategies.

2011-03-08T07:29:00.002-05:00

Yes, cost increases are annually projected and planned for by the school district. Historically, two forms of revenue have been used to meet the increasing costs: the Basic Education Subsidy and local property taxes. Unfortunately, for the first time in over a decade, the Basic Education Subsidy will most likely be reduced by the Commonwealth. This reduction will be explained today by Governor Corbett in his budget address. The expected amount of the reduction is anywhere between $600,000 and $800,000. Local property taxes can only be raised 2.1%. This only generates approximately $83,000 in new revenue for the school district. The district will attempt to reduce expenditures as much as possible to counteract a reduction in revenue.

2011-03-03T07:30:00.002-05:00

The 2011/2012 preliminary budget will be available after the May meeting of the Board of Education. The link to the 2010/2011 budget will be fixed immediately.

2011/2012 Budget

2011-02-23T12:34:00.001-05:00

It is expected that the school district will face a severe budget shortfall for the 2011/2012 school year. Without federal stimulus dollars to artificially inflate state revenues, the Commonwealth will be forced to reduce its expenditures for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Unfortunately, the majority of revenue (over 70%) received by the Susquehanna Community School District comes from the state. A decrease in state revenue will result in a required reduction in expenditures by the school district. To achieve a reduction in expenditures, the school district will have to reduce optional programs and only purchase the most essential supplies and curriculum materials.
The current budget deficit that is facing the district could exceed one million dollars. This is due to an expected $600,000 decrease in state revenue and a projected $500,000 increase in district costs. I urge all parents, taxpayers, and community members to call their state legislators to urge them to keep funding the Basic Education Subsidy at a minimum of the 2010/2011funding level. Failure to fund the Basic Education Subsidy at such a level will most likely result in the future reduction of educational and extracurricular programs. In addition, a long term reduction in the Basic Education Subsidy would force more of the district’s operating costs on the local taxpayers as opposed to the Commonwealth.
The Board of Education is currently analyzing many various cost cutting measures. Unfortunately, the majority of the costs the district faces are contractual obligations or fixed costs that are extremely difficult to reduce. All district stakeholders must make their voices heard in Harrisburg by letting their legislators know of the importance of keeping the current level of the Basic Education Subsidy. I also welcome your opinions and ideas for helping the school district meet the goal of crafting a fiscally conservative budget without jeopardizing the quality of the education offered to our students.

2011-01-03T10:09:00.001-05:00

Thank you for your support of the district’s use of blogs to provide information to district stakeholders. Some of our teachers have provided opportunities for students to respond to supervised blogs through our Blended Schools Program . As we progress down the road of blog and wiki use in education, our students will see more and more opportunities to use these and other technologically-enhanced communication methods. The district supports strong communication between coaches and student-athletes and their parents. However, the district is not envisioning the use of blogs to support that communication at this time.

2010-12-09T09:22:00.003-05:00

PDE recently released the grade spans associated with different performance levels on the Keystone Exams should district choose to use the exams as final exams counting 1/3 of the course grade. The Keystone Exams will be graded on a 100 point scale and the breakdown is as follows:
o Below Basic: 0
o Basic: 50 – 69
o Proficient: 70 – 89
o Advanced: 90 – 100

2010-11-22T10:17:00.001-05:00

The debate over the Keystone Exams and how they will be implemented is on! Districts basically have two options to choose from regarding the implementation of the Keystone Exams. Option 1: Use the Keystone Exam as the final exam (counting for at least 33.3% of the course grade) in the ten courses that will eventually have corresponding state-created Keystone Exams. Option 2: Use the Keystone Exams as stand-alone graduation exams that have no bearing on course grades but must be passed (at least six of them) independently in order to graduate. Using the Keystone Exams as course final exams would allow higher than average marking period grades to increase a low Keystone Exam scores and it would reduce the amount of total testing students experience. Unfortunately with the mandate that the Keystone Exam count for at least 33.3% of the course grades, some students would fail the entire course and not receive academic credit for the course if they received a very low Keystone Exam score. In this situation, not only would a student have to retake the Keystone Exam, but they would also have to retake the course to receive academic credit. Implementing the Keystones as a stand-alone graduation requirement requires students to score in the proficient or advanced range on the exams. By choosing this option, students’ scores on these exams could not be countered or impacted by good course grades.

2010-11-11T11:00:00.002-05:00

Under the current regulations for the Keystone Exams, students who receive testing accomodations for the PSSA would also receive them for the Keystone Exams. The Keystone Exams are required for students in this year's 8th grade. Students in 8th grade would be required to complete four of the six Keystone Exams. This year's 7th grade would be required to complete five of the six exams and finally, students in this year's 6th grade would be required to complete all six. As for overall graduation rate, I expect it to decline slightly as some students will be unable to pass the Keystone Exams and unfortunately, unable to meet proficiency through the State's project-based assessment. However, the district will provide all possible remediation to assist students in passing the exams.

2010-11-02T12:32:00.002-04:00

The Department of Education has informed school districts that if school districts would like to count the Keystone Exam for less than 1/3 of the total course grade, school districts would have to have the other assessments utilized in determining the course grade validated. The validation process is viewed by many to be difficult and costly. This will likely result in most school districts using the Keystone Exams as final exams, counting one-third or more of the entire course grade, or the utilization of the exams as stand-along graduation requirements.

2010-10-25T14:20:00.002-04:00

Under the current regulations associated with the Keystone Exams, there is not an alternative diploma option. Students will have to pass either the Keystone Exams and/or a series of alternative project-based performance assessments. This project-based performance assessment will be created by the Commonwealth for students to demonstrate proficiency in those areas that are failed on the Keystone Exams.

2010-10-22T11:49:00.002-04:00

Some students in the high school will begin taking Keystone Exam field tests next week. The field tests will be given in Algebra I, biology and literature. The data gained from the field tests will be used to help the Pennsylvania Department of Education develop future Keystone Exams and cut scores for future operational tests.

Keystone Exam Options

2010-10-06T08:19:00.002-04:00

The State Board of Education approved options for the use of Keystone Exams that would allow school districts to use them without the exam scores counting as 1/3 of the course grade. School districts that choose to use the Keystone Exams alone as the graduation requirement and independent of course grades would not have to go through a local assessment validation process. Under this new flexibility, school districts have the option to separate the exams from the course grades.

Keystone Exams

2010-10-01T08:42:00.001-04:00

Beginning with this year’s eighth grade class, students must pass a series of exams, called the Keystone Exams, to earn a Pennsylvania high school diploma. Pennsylvania has joined the growing number of states requiring that students pass subject-specific exams in order to graduate. The exams will be phased in over the next few years but once all of the exams have been developed, students will be responsible for passing six of the exams in order to graduate and receive a public high school diploma. This year’s seventh and eighth grade students will be required to pass four exams in order to graduate. Eventually, all students will have to pass two math exams, two language arts exams, one social studies exam and one science exam. These exams will serve as the course final exam in the subjects they are associated with. Students will take the exams beginning in eighth grade and will have additional opportunities to re-take the sections of the exams that they do not pass. If students cannot pass specific sections of the exams, they may be eligible to complete a project-based assessment demonstrating their proficiency in the content area of the sections that they could not pass. The district will be revising our high school courses over the next few years to ensure that the content assessed in the Keystone Exams is the content taught in the courses. The specific courses that will be aligned to Keystone Exam content will be: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, English 11, English 12, American History, World History, Biology and Chemistry.

2010-05-26T14:53:00.003-04:00

The movement to a standards-based report card is progressing. It has been decided that a numerical grade ranging from a 1 to a 4 will be utilized at the primary level (grades K-3) while a percentage-based grade will continue to be utilized in grades 4-12. It is our goal for the final report card product that the specific standards that composed the majority of the reading and math grades and the student attainment levels of those standards be listed below the reading and math grades.

2010-05-10T11:33:00.002-04:00

The Standards-Based Report Card Committee has met twice over the past few weeks to discuss the reporting categories related to reading that will appear on future standards-based report cards. The National Reading Panel has identified phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension as the most important reading skills. These skills are found in the PA Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening in Standards 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3. The committee is continuing to work on narrowing down the reporting categories within reading to six categories. Once this is accomplished, the committee will focus its efforts on the math reporting categories.

2010-04-09T14:30:00.002-04:00

A great article on the topic of grading scales, specifically the difference between a 100 point percentage-based system and a four-point system, is "The Case Against the Zero," by Douglas Reeves. This article can be found on the Internet or in the December 2004 edition (Volume 86, No. 4) of Phi Delta Kappan.

Report Cards and Grades Part 1

2010-03-24T09:29:00.002-04:00

The Susquehanna Community School District is investigating the move to standards-based reports cards at the elementary school and implementing a four-point grading scale at all grade levels. The move to a standards-based report card at the elementary level will allow teachers to better communicate how students are attaining the Pennsylvania Academic Standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening and Mathematics. Standards-based report cards will not look very different from the current report cards in grades K-3, but they will be noticeably different from the current report cards in grades 4-6. The use of letters and percentages as grades will change to a four-point grading scale with the implementation of standards-based report cards. In this type of grading scale the numbers correspond to the PSSA performance levels, where a “4” equals “advanced” work down to a “1” that identifies “below basic” performance. At the high school level, the change will be completely associated with course numerical grades. The four-point scale, which is utilized by many high schools and the entire college/university system, would replace the current percentage-based grading scale at the high school. The four-point scale is more equitable than the current percentage-based grading scale. In the current system, a failing grade could be anywhere between a zero (0) and a 69. However, in the four-point scale, all failing grades receive a “0,” while D’s receive a “1,” C’s equate to a “2,” B’s correspond to a “3,” and A’s are denoted by a “4.” The four-point scale has exactly the same amount between each grading scale, while the current percentage based system has only 31 of 100 points in the passing range.

Report Cards and Grades Part 2

2010-03-24T09:28:00.001-04:00

The movement to a standards-based report card for the elementary school will not be easy. Identifying which academic standards to report will take much consideration on the part of teachers and administrators. A grade-reporting template will also have to be developed to accommodate the use of performance standard descriptors. As for the four-point scale replacing the percentage-based system at the high school, this will also be a “work in progress.” The new system, if adopted, may have to be “phased in” in grades 9-12 due to the fact that GPAs for students in those grades are already being calculated with the percentage-based system. Both of these potential changes are intended to help the district communicate student performance in a more efficient and effective manner.

2010-03-05T07:48:00.002-05:00

Governor Rendell has recently proposed a plan to resolve the pending PSERS crisis. His proposal has two distinct elements. First, the fiscal liabilities faced by PSERS would be re- amortized over 30 years. Second, instead of the massive increases in state and school district contributions over the next three years that are currently projected, the state would require a more gradual increase in contributions. With Rendell's proposal, the state and school districts would face an increase of only 1% of payroll (equal to a 21% increase in the PSERS contribution rate) for the 2010-2011 fiscal year compared to the 3.44% payroll increase (equal to a 72% increase in the PSERS contribution rate) that was already set by PSERS for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. After 2010-2011, school districts and the state would face an annual increase in contributions of no more than 3% under Rendell's pl
an.

2010-01-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

More details of the pension reform bill (HB 2135) have been made available through the January 8, 2010 edition of PSBA's School Leader News. Under the new reform bill, the pension system would have a new class of employees who would belong to both a defined benefit system and a defined contribution system. Under the defined benefit component of the proposed hybrid pension system, new employees would contribute 3.25% of their salary, have a multiplier of 1% and go through a 10 year vesting period. With the defined contribution component, employees would have to contribute a minimum of 3% of their salary to an Individual Annuity Savings Account, but could contribute a higher percentage. School districts would have to contribute 2% of the employees salary to this side of the hybrid system. Overall, in this new hybrid system, new employees would contribute a minimum of 6.25% of their salary compared to the mandated 7.5% being contributed by current employees.

2010-01-11T07:57:00.001-05:00

The state legislators for our legislative districts are Representative Sandra Major and Senator Lisa Baker. Representative Major can be contacted through her website at http://repmajor.com and Senator Baker can be contacted through her website at http://senatorbaker.com .

2010-01-06T09:53:00.003-05:00

PSBA (Pennsylvania School Boards Association) has had its pension proposal introduced into both houses of the PA General Assembly. The PSBA proposal to fix the "pension crisis" in Pennsylvania involves changing the pension benefits and pension structure for all new school employees hired after June 30, 2010. The defined pension benefits for these new employees would be lower than those for current school employees but the new employees would have the ability to make contributions to a defined contribution program. The proposal allows new school employees to have the benefits of both a defined contribution system and a defined benefit system while reducing the financial burden on school district and state taxpayers.

2010-01-04T11:06:00.002-05:00

The school district would not be able to cover a 28%+ increase in the PSERS rate without a massive increase real estate taxes. The PSERS Rate for the 2010-2011 school year has been set at 8.22%. When compared to this year's rate of 4.78%, the 2010-2011 rate reflects a 71.9% increase.

PSERS Crisis

2009-12-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

School districts across Pennsylvania are bracing for the projected massive increases in their payments to the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System (PSERS). PSERS is a defined benefit retirement system that all school employees in Pennsylvania belong to. Currently, PSERS has 272,000 active school employees making contributions to the system and 157,000 retired school employees receiving defined benefits from the system. Upon retirement, a retiree receives a defined retirement pension regardless of the conditions in the economy. To fund such a system, PSERS relies on contributions from school employees and school districts, with the state reimbursing the districts one-half of their cost. Given the very poor economic period over the last few years, PSERS’ investments have not grown at a rate necessary to fund the defined benefits being paid to all of the current retirees without a change in the contribution rate. Unfortunately for school districts, the contribution rate from school employees is fixed at 7.5%. Therefore, to handle poor market conditions and low or negative returns on investments, the only sources of additional income for PSERS are the school districts. Currently, the school district pays PSERS at a rate of 4.78% of each employee’s salary. Based upon a -2.82% investment return for Fiscal Year 2008, PSERS is estimating that the rate for the school districts to be 27.73% for the 2012-2013 school year. If this is allowed to occur, a financial crisis would occur in every school district in the Commonwealth. I urge all taxpayers of the school district and the Commonwealth to contact their state legislators and urge them to take immediate action to prevent the massive increases in the PSERS contribution rate for school districts.

2009-11-18T07:33:00.002-05:00

The district will be finishing up first round H1N1 vaccinations this week. All remaining vaccines, excluding the amount needed for the second doses for students nine and under, will be transferred under the authorization of the PA Dept. of Health to The Family Health Clinic of Barnes Kasson Hospital by the end of the week. Approximately 400 students participated in the voluntary H1N1 vaccination program conducted by the school district.

2009-11-06T09:04:00.003-05:00

The district began the H1N1 vaccinations on Wednesday and will most likely finish on Monday. Student attendance was substantially better this week.

2009-10-29T09:56:00.003-04:00

The district was informed today that the H1N1 vaccine is in the process of being shipped to the district. An exact arrival date was not given. The district was informed that it will be receiving 1000 doses of the injectable vaccine. Even though the district only ordered the injectable vaccine, the district will also be receiving 200 doses of the nasal spray vaccine.

2009-10-23T11:44:00.001-04:00

Thank you for your support! I hope that this meeting will provide accurate information to parents and community members alike!

2009-10-22T14:07:00.002-04:00

I held a meeting today with Elizabeth Matis (SCSD School Nurse), David Passetti (representative from The Family Health Clinic of Barnes Kasson Hospital) and Terese McIntyre-Delaplaine, JD (representative from NEPA Community Health Care) related to the H1N1 virus. The proactive approaches of the different health care providers and the school district were discussed as was the misinformation circulating in the community related to the confirmed incidences of H1N1. The meeting resulted in the decision to hold a panel discussion on the issue of H1N1. The panel discussion will be held in the high school auditorium on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 7 PM. The contents of the letter that will be sent home tomorrow with students are as follows:

October 22, 2009

Parents/Guardians,

Greetings! The Susquehanna Community School District in conjunction with NEPA Community Health Care and The Family Health Clinic of Barnes Kasson Hospital will be sponsoring a panel discussion related to the novel H1N1 virus. The panel discussion will be held on Thursday, October 29th at 7 PM in the high school auditorium.

The panel will include individuals from the local medical community and school district personnel. The discussion will hope to address the following questions:

- What is the H1N1 virus? How is it different from the regular flu virus?
- What are the pros and cons of the H1N1 vaccine?
- What can parents/caregivers do to prevent the spread of the virus?
- What are the issues facing our local health care providers?
- How is the school district responding to the H1N1 virus and the seasonal flu virus?

If you have questions or concerns about the H1N1 virus, please attend this panel discussion.

Sincerely,

Bronson Stone
Superintendent

2009-10-22T07:50:00.002-04:00

The district placed its official order for the H1N1 vaccine on Tuesday. The district ordered only the injectable form of the vaccine. We are awaiting to hear the shipment date from the PA Department of Health.

2009-10-20T14:07:00.001-04:00

October 20, 2009

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Greetings! More confirmed cases of Influenza A and strongly suspected cases of H1N1 influenza are being reported to the school district. These students, ill with Influenza Type A and/or novel H1N1 influenza, are being treated and are being recommended by health care professionals to stay home for at least seven days. As the number of suspected cases continues to increase in our district and in other neighboring districts, some parents/guardians believe that the schools should close. This belief is contrary to the recommendations of the PA Department of Health (PADOH). According to the PADOH, school district policy related to H1N1 under the current conditions should be as follows:

- Recommending that students and staff stay home when sick for at least 24 hours after the fever ends naturally (without the aid of fever-reducing medication). The local medical community is recommending students/staff stay home for seven days after the onset of the symptoms.
- Separate sick students and staff. Once ill students and staff are identified by district personnel, they are sent home.
- Promote good prevention techniques. District faculty and staff are promoting cough etiquette and hand washing and encouraging students to stay home when they are ill.
- Clean routinely with the schools regular cleaning supplies. The district is focusing greater efforts than ever before on cleaning desks, tables and computer equipment.
- Treat vulnerable students and staff early. As soon as the vaccine is supplied to the school district, priority will be given to the district’s most at-risk students and staff.

Concern among parents/guardians about their child’s safety is only natural and completely respected by the school district. However, the district will not close its schools unless the incidence of the novel H1N1 becomes rampant with the schools and the district is advised to do so by Pennsylvania Department of Health officials.

Please continue to recommend hand washing and cough etiquette with your child. Should your child have a fever and/or flu-like symptoms, please seek medical attention and do not send your child to school. I look forward to your continued cooperation as we work together to address the novel H1N1 influenza.

2009-10-19T11:10:00.002-04:00

The message sent on Sunday stated specially the following: "I am calling to inform you that a district student was seen by health care professionals yesterday and is strongly suspected of having the H1N1 virus." The district has not been notified by the PA Dept. of Health as to when we will be receiving the vaccine.

2009-10-19T10:07:00.002-04:00

I have not been notified of any confirmed cases of H1N1 among our students as of the time of this writing. There is one highly suspected case. Are students safe at school? Students are as safe at school as they are in any public place. The view that keeping a child home will prevent the child from acquiring the regular flu or the H1N1 virus is flawed unless no one in the home ventures out to a public place, including parents. Viruses can be "brought home" by adults as easily as they can by children.

2009-10-19T07:33:00.002-04:00

The school district's intent is to have enough vaccines to give children under nine years of age both of the recommended doses. The district has not been given the approval to place its official order yet.

2009-10-16T07:40:00.002-04:00

Related to the H1N1 vaccine, school district nurses would administer the vaccine. As for the choice between the nasal spray or the injection-based vaccine, if the choice is made available to the district, then we will ask parents which one they would prefer for their child.

2009-10-14T10:34:00.003-04:00

The school district will be sending home H1N1 vaccine consent forms and additional information on the vaccine on Thursday with students. The district's goal is to have the consent forms on file before the vaccine arrives so that the vaccine can be administered as quickly as possible to eligible students. Again, the choice to vaccinate against the H1N1 virus is purely a parent decision. Additional measures were instituted last week to ensure that computer keyboards are cleaned after each student uses them.

2009-10-05T08:04:00.002-04:00

The Susquehanna Community School District is hoping to be selected as a voluntary vaccination site by the PA Dept. of Health. An official order for the H1N1 vaccine has not been placed. If the district is able to order and administer the vaccine, it would be completely voluntary for students and faculty members. PA's Dept. of Health does not have a mandate for either the H1N1 vaccine or the seasonal flu vaccine for school aged children and/or educational providers.

2009-10-01T09:01:00.001-04:00

Good suggestion! There are multiple hand sanitizing stations in each school. However, the recommendation of placing hand sanitizers in each classroom will be discussed at our October Safety Committee meeting.

H1N1

2009-09-22T09:23:00.000-04:00

The Susquehanna Community School District is taking proactive measures to be prepared for the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak in our school community. The school district is in the process of applying to become a vaccination site for our students and high risk employees when the antivirus becomes available. The district has a pandemic preparedness plan and is monitoring attendance weekly to determine if there are absences associated with flu-like symptoms. The district will also continue to update its website with information related to the
H1N1 virus as it becomes available.

What additional informational resources do you as a parent feel you need to be adequately informed about the H1N1 virus? Have you talked with your child about the H1N1 virus and the precautions that he/she can take to help prevent the spread of this virus?