Tamaqua Superintendent Ray Kinder introduced the district’s new COVID-19 tracker to the school board Monday.

The tracker can be found by clicking on the exclamation notification that pops up when visiting the district’s home page online. The tracker is updated daily and all of the Tamaqua Area School District COVID-19 information is one click away.

The tracker currently has 16 reported occurrences listed since Dec. 20 and four since the new year, with no current quarantines.

“It Includes the location of the cases, onset date, whether or not it’s a student or a staff member,” Kinder said.

“It indicates if there were any other quarantines and if it’s an active case toward the 14-day rolling average.”

Kinder said there will be no more one-calls or other forms of communication about the COVID-19 places. The information is available for everyone at the same place on the district home page.

Capital projects

The idea of a feasibility study was sprung by the Tamaqua Safety Commission, which suggested a comprehensive evaluation of all district building entryways to help protect students and staff. The study was completed in the fall.

In October, AEM Architects proposed a total project budget, which included massive renovations of each district building, tallied over $77 million. The proposal included multiple phases of construction that would last roughly a decade until every bit is completed.

However, the proposal featured many unnecessary or nonurgent suggestions. Over the past few months, the school board sifted through the information and prioritized AEM’s suggestions.

Kinder said on next week’s board meeting agenda will be contacting AEM Architects en route to proceeding with a few integral projects. One of the main priorities has been to enhance building security.

“Our recommendations remain the same,” Kinder said. “We are seeking the ability to contact AEM Architects to set up a process of creating a bid with a base bid being building entry, upgrading fire and security alarms, exterior lighting as well as some ADA ramps and door hardware.”

Vision vouchers

The auxiliary committee approved a memorandum of understanding between the Tamaqua district and St. Luke’s University Health Network for a vision voucher program to continue through June 30, 2022.

Kinder said students who are underinsured could get a vision test and possibly glasses.

Budget meeting

The board will meet on March 8 to discuss the 2021-22 general fund budget. The makeup date is March 9. The next regularly scheduled board meeting is slated for Monday at 7:30 p.m.