Mon, Jun 02, 2003 page4

• School closure was an act of prudence

  SARS IMPACT Final exams were still held, but turnout was relatively poor and measures were taken to ease the ``surreal'' impact the quarantine had on the institution

  • By Diane Chang / CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
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  Taipei American School (TAS) is usually teeming with life even after classes have ended. On May 7, a Wednesday, TAS's hallways were deserted by 3:30pm.

  On that day, a second person within the TAS community was labeled a probable SARS case, the entire TAS faculty received a shocking announcement from the Department of Health (DOH) that they were being placed in home quarantine for fourteen days, and the school year was abruptly terminated.

  SARS had managed to shake up the TAS community in an unprecedented manner.

  

  A group of Taipei American School students pose for a graduation photo in this file photo.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING

  Although the TAS administration's actions were seemingly rash, the spread of the SARS virus had already significantly impacted TAS in the weeks before the chain of events that took place on that Wednesday.

  May 7 had been a regular school day until all faculty members were told around three o'clock to help ensure all students had evacuated the campus before attending an emergency meeting.

  "I had no idea what was going on at the time, but when I saw that they were distributing masks before the meeting I knew something bad was happening," said Middle and Upper School band teacher Stephen Abernethy.

  In the spacious school auditorium, representatives from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Shilin Department of Health informed 250 faculty members and staff that a TAS kindergarten teacher had been diagnosed as a probable SARS case and hospitalized.

  The teacher had called in sick with a fever the day before, but on Wednesday morning her husband informed the school that she was experiencing respiratory distress, another symptom of SARS. She was taken to Shin-Kuang Hospital where tests were under way.

  While tracing the teacher's schedule for the days leading up to her sickness, the DOH found out that she had attended a full faculty meeting on Monday, May 5th. The topic of this meeting was the SARS Decision-Making Guide that the administrators had developed.

  Because the meeting had taken place in a small, enclosed space, the DOH's policies required all faculty to be quarantined at home for fourteen days.

  "It was surreal," Eighth Grade Humanities teacher Paul Haakenson said.

  "Some of the female teachers had even started crying out of shock," he said.

  After the DOH representatives answered questions regarding details of being quarantined, faculty members headed straight for home, many without even stopping in offices or classrooms to collect materials.

  That evening, the Board of Directors, the superintendent, and the principals convened to decide on actions that would benefit all students and staff. The administration's primary concern was how to continue without jeopardizing the safety of students, staff and faculty.

  Killing germs

  First of all, the school had to be shut down for two days while experts thoroughly disinfected the entire building.

  The Board also had to take into consideration that this was not the first SARS case within the TAS community -- just three days before a TAS student who had been under home quarantine began to experience SARS symptoms and was taken to the National Taiwan University Hospital, where he was placed in the "suspected" category.

  The student's parents had been quarantined at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital since April 26 when an outbreak occurred in the hospital while the student's father was receiving dialysis treatment. Both parents tested positive for the coronavirus.

  According to the guidelines set down in the SARS contingency plan, the school had reached "medium risk" with more than one student, family, faculty or staff SARS case, and an increase in ccommunity transmissions throughout Taiwan, while "probable" SARS cases were mounting. Serious measures had to be taken.

  "TAS is not a neighborhood school. We are bringing people in from all over the city," says Superintendent Mark Ulfers. Without teachers, classes obviously could not continue during the period of the quarantine.

  The Board considered the possibility of resuming classes if the hospitalized teacher's test results were negative, but decided that the alarming rate at which SARS cases were mounting was just too dangerous.

  If more suspected cases showed up within the TAS community, the school would have to close again. Ulfers felt that "it didn't make sense to take a chance on people's health."

  To reduce unnecessary feelings of uncertainty, the administrative team decided to end the school year.

  "The decision to end the school year was a tough one," says Jean Liu, Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

  "As a parent, I want to keep them thinking and learning, but safe at the same time. In the end, I think parents understand that everything our children have accomplished academically or athletically would all be meaningless if they contracted SARS [and died as a result]," Liu added.

  Despite the termination of classes, Upper School students still had external International Baccalaureate Program and Advanced Placement Program examinations.

  When exams scheduled for May 8 and 9 had to be cancelled while the school was disinfected, Taipei European School volunteered its campus, allowing students to take the missed exams on Saturday, May 10.

  Teachers, on the other hand, were faced with the challenge of being isolated alone or with their families for a long period of time.

  "I tried to do some exercise in my apartment," says music teacher Stephen Abernethy. "The quarantine made me have to think about [the ongoing SARS situation] all the time, I had to distract myself."

  DOH volunteers called each quarantined faculty member everyday to make inquiries about their health and habits and visited their homes to help dispose of trash.

  Meals on wheels

  In order to provide teachers with food they were used to, the TAS Food Service cooked meals that were then delivered door-to-door by the school transportation personnel in school buses.

  In order to communicate with teachers, students and parents, Superintendent Ulfers continued posting SARS updates on the school Web site as he had begun in early April.

  "I was really impressed with the communication between teachers," says Haakenson of the phone trees and online updates. Middle School Mandarin teacher Shannon Hsu agreed, saying, "I never felt like I needed anything, everything was taken care of."

  During the quarantine period, the situation in Taiwan was becoming progressively worse. The number of probable SARS cases had risen from 100 on May 2 to 207 on May 13.

  The American Institute in Taiwan also announced on May 9 that their personnel were given Authorized Leave.

  By Monday, May 12 the TAS teacher was allowed to return home after exhibiting reduced symptoms and negative results in two tests for the coronavirus.

  The quarantine period for all TAS faculty ended two days later, on Wednesday the May 14 (Taipei citywide policy had been modified so that quarantine periods were reduced to 10 days).

  Teachers returned to school on Thursday and Friday to calculate grades and finalize work while still wearing masks that were required by DOH policy for four days after the end of quarantine.

  Test turnout

  Before the quarantine period and in all previous years, 100 percent of students turn up for exams. However, only approximately 70 percent of students that registered for exams actually went to school to take them after the quarantined period.

  For many teachers, the shortened school year came as a relief. Hsu feels that a continuation of classes would have put undue "emotional stress on both teachers and students."

  "I think the right decision was made," agrees Abernethy. "It was the end of the school year and stress levels were already high, so it was better not to pile more on top of that."

  Since SARS cases began to rise in April TAS had been taking "aggressive and conservative" measures to ensure safety by taking temperatures and limiting school activities. The school has also made an emergency purchase of an online education program that would come in useful if the epidemic continues.

  "We continue to be optimistic that school will resume as planned in August" exerts Ulfers. In the meantime, TAS opts to be safe rather than sorry.
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