As the school year gets underway for USD 253 Emporia, the district is equipped with a new tool to help detect potential COVID-19 cases before they get too far into school buildings.
During its Jul. 8 meeting, the Board of Education approved the purchase of walk-through temperature scanners at a cost of over $85,000. Those machines have since been installed to all district buildings and will alert operators if an individual who passes through may be running a temperature.
Riverside Elementary School Nurse Jennifer Arndt explains district procedure for if someone happens to trip an alarm.
Arndt adds that the machines will also alert operators if an individual is running a low temperature.
She says the district is working to keep any possible detections of COVID-19 as discreet as possible. The district is eligible for FEMA reimbursement for the machines which would cover roughly 75 percent of the cost.
The district’s actual cost after reimbursement would come out to just over $21,000.
