As it is a global pandemic, Covid-19 affects everyone in the world. This year, Pattonville School District and its staff and students are facing a new challenge to suppress the spread of the virus at school.

To combat Covid, new rules and regulations need to be in place to be effective. Pattonville has a mask mandate, like most other schools in St. Louis County and St. Louis City. At lunches, there are clear dividers on the tables that provide a barrier between students. Enhanced cleaning has also been implemented, as well as nightly cleaning.

The measures PHS are taking are fairly effective. As of October 6, Pattonville High School has had 23 positive cases in the building, according to data from Pattonville’s Covid Dashboard. There are currently only two people on Standard or Modified Quarantine.

Unlike the high school, Pattonville, as a school district, numbers are not as low. Through October 6, the school district has had 99 total cases among students and staff members so far. Along with the total number of cases, there are currently 64 students and staff members currently on Standard or Modified Quarantine.

A simple way to lower the number of Covid cases in general is getting vaccines. Currently 53.6 percent of citizens in St. Louis County are vaccinated. Superintendent Dr. Pecoraro said, “We encourage everyone eligible (ages 12 and up) to get vaccinated. Health officials emphasize that COVID-19 vaccines are the main strategy to end the pandemic.”

Last school year, students started off the year entirely virtual due to the height of Covid. This year only three percent of students chose virtual learning at PHS. This prompted Pattonville’s new mandates and guidelines to help throughout the school year.

Other schools in St. Louis has had much different numbers of cases and people in quarantine than Pattonville. According to an article from KSDK released on September 9, “Hazelwood School District has had 800 out of 17,000 children be placed in quarantine.” School districts without mask mandates have had large quarantine numbers, like Fort Zumwalt with “over 340 kids in quarantine” and Wentzville with “more than 270 children in quarantine.”

The Pattonville School District has created a way for community members to track Covid numbers in our district by using the Covid-19 Dashboard located on Pattonville’s website. This shows accurate numbers, guidelines, notes from the superintendent, and more.

Pattonville School District wants to show that education is possible during a global pandemic.