NOLA-PS ANNOUNCES PROCUREMENT OF PPE SUPPLIES FOR ALL ORLEANS PARISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE
District announces hiring of new Medical Advisor; New Orleans Department of Health Director Dr. Avegno speaks on NOLA-PS’ important partnership with the City.
Click here for PPE supplies photos
NEW ORLEANS – (July 14, 2020) – Today during a virtual press conference, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) announced it has procured PPE supplies for all Orleans Parish public schools to utilize on campus for the 2020-2021 academic school year. NOLA-PS also announced the hiring of Dr. Benjamin Springgate as the District’s Medical Advisor. Additionally, New Orleans Department of Health’s Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno spoke about how NOLA-PS is working closely with the City to analyze health data trends to prepare for the return to campus next month.
NOLA-PS is problem-solving at the District level to ensure the safety of all students and educators when schools reopen next month. To that effect, NOLA-PS worked diligently to procure various PPE supplies that will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Starting next week, and over the next few weeks, Orleans Parish public schools will receive a kit with the following supplies:
• 4,800-9,200 Disposable and reusable face masks per site
• 200-750 Face shields per site
• 8,000-16,000 Nitrile gloves per site
• 10 Gallons of hand sanitizer and 20 hand sanitizer stations per site
• 4 No-touch thermometers per site
• 40 Thermal-insulated food storage bags per site
• 40 Gallons of disinfectants per site
These PPE supplies will be used in addition to the safety requirements already in place in NOLA-PS’ Roadmap to Reopening. These safety standards include face covering requirements for all students and staff, frequent handwashing, temperature checks and limiting class size.
During the press conference, New Orleans Department of Health’s Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno discussed how NOLA-PS and the City have worked closely together to find the safest way to re-open schools for the upcoming academic year. The District is working hand in hand with the Mayor’s office and the city health department to evaluate health data trends to determine if any changes need to be made to the reopening plans, whether that is in August and at any point in the school year.
The District will welcome Dr. Benjamin Springgate as NOLA-PS Medical Advisor. As Medical Advisor, Dr. Springgate will aid in the reentry planning processes and will be available to all schools in the District to advise on actions to take and how to keep campuses safe. Dr. Springgate is an associate professor of clinical medicine at Louisiana State University (LSU) and received his medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine where he also completed his residency both in internal medicine and pediatrics.
In order to be transparent with students, families, teachers, staff and the community, NOLA-PS will be hosting a press conference every week leading up to the start of the upcoming school year. NOLA-PS will utilize these press conferences to provide updates about the upcoming academic school year. NOLA-PS will welcome Dr. Benjamin Springgate as a guest at next week’s press conference.
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ABOUT NOLA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish, which includes the district’s elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board and the district’s administration led by NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 78 public schools. For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.
