Trending
AUSTINTOWN -- Mahoning County Public Health has approved providing between $15,000 and $30,000 of Ohio Department of Health funds to area school districts within its jurisdiction to help them carry out COVID-19 contact tracing.
Ryan Tekac, health commissioner, said Mahoning County Public Health carried out contact tracing for the school districts at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the schools do it themselves now with help from the health department.
"We requested additional funding to assist the schools with contact tracing. They know their school settings and where people sit, and this will get some funding to them," Tekac said of the reason for having the schools handle the task. The funds will not cover all of the costs of contact tracing, Tekac noted.
The amounts being passed to the schools was determined based on enrollment of each district.
Awards of $30,000 went to Austintown and Boardman. Awards of $25,000 went to Canfield, West Branch and Poland. Awards of $20,000 went to Struthers, South Range, Campbell and Springfield. Awards of $15,000 went to Jackson Milton, Western Reserve, Sebring, Lowellville, the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center and the County Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio.
"We are working together to make sure kids are staying healthy and staying in school," Tekac said, noting that the school districts that have a masking requirement for everyone have less need for contact tracing.
The four school districts in the county that have mandatory mask policies for students are Boardman, Campbell, Youngstown and Sebring, plus the Educational Service Center, Tekac said. Youngstown is not in the county health department's jurisdiction because it has its own health department.
The schools that switched to optional masking "will have additional work to do in the event that someone is exposed," he said.
"They are allowed to come back to school as long as they are wearing a mask for 14 days. So there's (tracing) work there to be done."
The schools also have additional work to do in "knowing when that child is going to be tested and when that child is going to come off of the masking requirement."
"We appreciate the Ohio Department of Health for allowing this to happen. We appreciate the schools for continuing to work with us," Tekac said.
Staff with the health department have been working with the school systems for more than a year regarding contact tracing, Tekac said. Mahoning County Public Health reviews the information provided by the schools and passes it on to the Ohio Department of Health, he said.
erunyan@vindy.com