Cape School District using technology to maintain school safety, health

Faced with the multi-faceted challenge of safely readmitting staff and students into classrooms this fall, the Cape Girardeau School District found many solutions through technology.

Myriad COVID-related adjustments are active inside schools to help minimize risks such as large groups and communal transmission, but teachers face another risk outside of the building at the start and end of every day — student drop-offs and pick-ups.

Assistant superintendent Josh Crowell said by using smartphone applications such as CrisisGo and KidAccount, local schools can manage on-campus health and movements on a one-by-one basis.

The KidAccount program is in its fourth year of use at Clippard Elementary and was rolled out to every elementary school in the district this year. KidAccount helps track students coming and leaving campus, and at the end of the day, authorized parents and guardians present a special ID card that, when scanned, prompts students to exit the building one-by-one in a secure manner.

“It keeps everything nice and organized,” Crowell said, “and with COVID in particular, it keeps crowds from gathering at the front door where social distancing wouldn’t occur.”

In the morning, local school faculty members use the CrisisGo incident management system to securely conduct a screening process of COVID-related symptoms or possible exposures, then prompts staff with an alert on whether they should report to work.

“It’s a great screening tool for us, and it keeps us from having to bottleneck our individuals from coming into the building,” Crowell said.

The school district initially adopted the CrisisGo software as a secure method for emergency communications, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March, the company’s founder and chief product officer Jim Spicuzza began focusing on alternative services it could provide to schools.

After a crowd-sourcing project with about 200 school districts discussing challenges with distance learning, meal distribution, and more, Spicuzza said his organization worked with a nearby state association to understand the challenges facing schools and develop a product to help overcome them.

The company has since announced its newest release, Safety iPass, which delivers an all-inclusive solution to managing COVID-19 challenges with daily pre-certifications, real-time read reports, direct connection to school health officials, and reduced time to enter school facilities versus a manual entry process.

The Safety iPass program has already been adopted by many schools in Illinois and New York. The program is expected to begin rolling out in Missouri next week and it has already received support from the Missouri School Board Association (MSBA).

“We see this as a pivotal year for schools and MSBA has a history of looking at issues that schools are facing,” MSBA director of business development Sharon Horbyk said. “We look at what’s impacting their districts and then, through training, through outreach or connecting those schools with resources like CrisisGo, we can help support them as they move forward with what they believe is best for the students in their local district.”

While the local assistant superintendent remains appreciative of modern technology and how it has helped interconnect the school district, Crowell still ultimately said “old-school communication” is the most important thing for Cape Girardeau schools.

“You know, technology is wonderful, but [so is] making sure we’re effective in communicating what our plans are; and making sure that our staff, our students and our families know what our plans are,” Crowell said. “People are dealing with enough stress in their life now already that you just don’t want to add another layer to it, and I think we’re accomplishing that.”