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Instructional Leader Cathy Seale and Technology and Testing Coordinator Kate Huggins provided information on COVID-19 resources at the Marengo County Board of Education meeting on July 15.

The presentation covered personal safety, medical supplies, and school-wide resources for faculty and students. One thousand KN95 masks have been ordered for employees, 6,000 disposable ear-loop masks, and 1,000 disposable face shields. The MCBOE will distribute one reusable mask and two disposable masks to each student on the first day of school. Employees will receive one reusable mask, two disposable masks, and one face shield on the first day of school.

Each employee will receive a mini First Aid kit to be kept in the classroom to assist with minor triage. Employees will also have access to gloves, alcohol-based wipes, non-contact infrared thermometers, COVID-19 information pamphlets, and blue isolation gowns.

Each school in the county has designated well rooms and isolation rooms. Well rooms will be used for students with preexisting conditions such as diabetes and isolation for sick students. Isolation rooms will have wooden dividers, storage cabinets, two cots, touch-free trash cans, oximeters, digital blood pressure monitors, and stethoscopes.

School-wide resources include bottle filling stations to replace water fountains. Students will bring their own clear water bottles and will be allowed to refill throughout the day. Touchless water faucets have been ordered, and every restroom in each school will have at least one touchless water faucet installed. Soap dispensers and touchless paper towel dispensers will also be installed in each restroom. Plastic barriers have been ordered for the front offices.

Karcher P/S4 mister sanitizing machines have been purchased for schools: two for Sweetwater, one for Marengo High, and one for A.L. Johnson. Custodians will use these rolling machines to sanitize main areas. SK2 sanitizing machines will be set up at each school. There will be three machines at Sweetwater, two at Marengo High, two at A.L. Johnson, and one at the bus shop. Systems will be serviced at least once per month by Cintas. Custodians will refill spray bottles one day each week for all teachers and bus drivers.

Hand sanitizer mounts will be installed in each classroom, office area, library, and gym. Thirty-two ounce bottles of hand sanitizer will be replaced every two weeks. Larger hand sanitizer stations will be placed in the front entrance of schools and at the main entrance of the cafeteria at each school.

UV lamps will be used to disinfect large areas. They will be provided to each classroom, office area, library, gym, and cafeteria. The lamps run for 30 minutes and will be used twice a day. Each lamp has a battery life of 22,000 hours.

There will be a universal breakfast for each school that is free of charge. There will be hot and cold food bags for each school and fifty carts for delivering breakfast and lunch to classrooms. Fifty trash cans with rolling dollies and trash liners have been purchased, as well as tilt trucks for Sweetwater, Marengo, and A.L. Johnson.

Items approved by the board:

• The board approved the proposed revised calendar for 2020-2021.

• The board approved the bid for copier paper.

• The Board approved the contract for LP gas.

For additional information, visit the Marengo County School District website at https://www.marengo.k12.al.us/. The website provides Covid-19 updates, the MCS Reopening Plan, and a Parent Q&A page.

The next meeting of the board will be Thursday, July 30, at 4 p.m.