The Panther Valley School Board approved a motion that will allow the school to administer H1N1 vaccinations to all school age children who are enrolled in the Panther Valley School District, under the direction of Dr. Durako, the school physician. However, there is no word from the state as to when the District will be receiving the immunizations.

"We are pre-registered with the state. We put in for every student that is enrolled," said Superintendent Rosemary Porembo, which also includes students enrolled at Our Lady of the Angels Academy. The vaccinations would be provided free of charge; however, all students would be required to submit a signed consent form before receiving the shot. "We will be sending out the consent forms tomorrow," said Porembo, after the meeting. "We are asking that they are sent back by Oct. 30th. They are very detailed. Parents need to read them carefully and get them back to us.""We also plan to do this at night, when parents can accompany their children," she said.Porembo added that they have not received any confirmation as to when the district might be receiving the vaccinations, but that they want to be prepared for them when they arrive. The board also approved a stipend for the three school nurses to oversee the after school vaccination center, at a rate of $30 per hour, not to exceed 12 hours. That fee will be the only cost to the district. Board members asked if staff members would also be receiving the vaccination. According to Porembo, only staff members who are pregnant, have a pre-existing underlying condition, or in a household with a child under 6 months of age, would be eligible for the vaccine.Director David Hiles asked if the district has had any reported cases of H1N1 at this point. Porembo said that there was one case of type A influenza. "They're not swabbing for H1N1 anymore. If you test positive for type A, you might have it," she said. According to Porembo, the district is currently experiencing typical absentee rates. She also noted that the district is doing everything that it can to prevent the spread of the disease, including complying with all disinfection recommendations. "Our maintenance staff is doing more preventative maintenance. Doorknobs, countertops, things like that are cleaned a little more heavily at this point," she said.In other health related matters, the board discussed the possibility of implementing a drug testing policy. The matter has been under review by the policy committee. Policy committee chairman Anthony DeMarco explained that under such a policy, the focus would be the treatment and rehab of any students who tested positive. "It's not about putting them in jail," he said. Porembo added, "You cannot drug test every student randomly. You can only test students who are in a particular activity."DeMarco advised the board that they would need to decide how to handle positive tests, whether or not an additional staff member, such as a case worker or home visitor, would be required or if the school would refer the student to an outside service. "Is that our responsibility, rehabbing them," asked DeMarco. "We need to think hard about putting in that policy.""Can we start somewhere, like students with driving passes? Obviously, that's a safety issue," said Director Anthony Pondish. "And I say we do the referrals." "I'm not here to arrest them, I'm here to get them help," stated Board President Ron Slivka. Director Jeff Markovich noted that several other nearby districts, including Mahanoy Area and Blue Mountain, have already implemented drug testing policies and Tamaqua is currently considering one.Director Mickey Angst suggested that the district already "has too much on its plate at one time." "Let's work on this later," he said. "I've looked at every school district that has adopted this and I wouldn't vote for any of the plans."Porembo also threw in the cost factor. "I've been costing it out," she said. "These tests could be around $80 a test."Hiles suggested that the district is already spending enough money on prevention through programs like DARE, at the elementary and middle school levels. "We shouldn't be the people who have to get them help. We shouldn't be spending education dollars. We're going to spend tax dollars on helping to get kids off of drugs. We should be finding the parents to get the kids off drugs," he said.The matter will continue to be reviewed by the policy committee.