Reopening Schools After Coronavirus - A Planning Strategy to Guide Implementation

Reopening K-12 Schools After Coronavirus A Planning Strategy to Guide Implementation

Is there a way to safely reopen more than 1,800 K-12 schools in New York City in a responsible way to educate over 1.1 million students?

Reopening will require a reliable screening and testing system to evaluate teachers and children daily. Ideally there would be a screening and testing facility at every school, call it front porch healthcare. Mitchell Giurgola has been exploring an actionable plan to scale “front porch” healthcare to serve every school in NYC and has developed a strategy and physical plan that will allow NYC agencies to implement a robust K-12 school community-based screening and testing program. This proposal is intended to provide a nimble analytic tool to site facilities and an adaptable infrastructure for health care providers working in partnership with the Department of Education. Mobility will be critical not only to overcome the challenges of Covid-19, but also to prepare for the upcoming flu season, the next unforeseen global health crisis, and simply to monitor children’s general health with meaningful frequency.

The Challenge By studying the existing network of the Health + Hospitals Corporation, the Department of Health and other municipal-funded providers, the plan highlights ‘hospital deserts’ where pop-up healthcare installations will be needed.

Using GIS mapping technology and data analysis, every school in the five boroughs has been geo-located in its school district. Hospitals, public health centers, and clinics managed by the Health and Hospitals Corporation, Department of Health and community-based non-profits have been flagged, as have schoolbased medical clinics. By overlaying existing healthcare facilities onto the Department of Education’s 1,800 schools, the mapping study identifies underserved areas, and helps to pinpoint school clusters and potential sites that merit pop-up satellite health centers.

The analysis acknowledges the involvement of more than a few agencies who must coordinate their efforts: the Governor, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, the DOE school based clinics, and Health and Hospitals Corporation. For the purposes of the study and proposal, the assumption is that a coordinated effort among the agencies will be in place. Any less, as we have witnessed at the Federal level, will severely limit the chances for success.

The Challenge There is autonomy in each of the City’s 32 school districts as to how they disperse their available funding. We have homed in one particular district for this analysis, District 23 in Central Brooklyn. This district is representative of the typical, spotty availability of health care services for school age children. While there are many schools in the district, there is a dirth of health care facilities. The ideal model, front porch healthcare for screening and testing at every school may be the only solution at some schools that are isolated from existing facilities.

Ideally an existing health center will occur as the focus around which a school cluster can be created. The map illustrates walking distances from home to school and the desirable sphere of influence that will be possible in the various neighborhoods in the District. Lacking an existing public health center, a satellite facility may be sited appropriately to serve a cluster of schools. School partnerships and neighborhood identity may play a role in locating satellite services.

HEALTH CARE FACILITIES School District 23 0

0.25

0.5

>1

WALK RADIUS (mile) * calculated from health care facilities

- NYC School Based Clinics - Child Health Centers - Community Health Centers - Acute Care Hospitals - Hospitals and Clinics

NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS NYC SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contribu

Solutions To meet the CDC reopening guidelines, every school in NYC will need a designated spot for screening, testing and healthcare outside of the school building surrounded by fresh air and ease of social distancing. Mitchell Giurgola has identified three possible solutions to respond to this need. The first solution, Tier 1, involves utilizing a school’s existing playground as an outdoor, sheltered zone for screening and testing before students and staff enter the building.

Given the density of NYC’s urban landscape, however, a more realistic and cost-efficient planning concept is to identify neighboring schools that are sufficiently close to share a satellite facility (Tier 2). By scaling the ‘front porch’ concept, this solution allows a single screening center to serve a cluster of schools on larger unencumbered sites. These satellite health centers should be located within a 15-20-minute walking radius from a cluster of schools.

The third solution involves utilizing adjacent public open space (i.e. parking lots, parks, etc.) to expand school-based health care services.

A representative school district, District 23 in Central Brooklyn, illustrates the planning process to identify clusters and solutions.

An aerial survey of the fabric of the neighborhoods reveals potential sites for satellites to serve a cluster of schools. For example, in District 23 there is a cluster of five schools in proximity to PS 284. To reduce the number of individual screening pop-ups, the District managers could decide to develop a satellite facility to serve both PS 284 and the other 4 schools within a walking distance of 15-20 minutes, a cluster.

In District 23, several schools are isolated in relatively remote locations, which is commonly the case. In these cases, a singular front porch would be appropriate as illustrated in the example on the right.

GRAFTON STREET

PS 156 First Floor Plan EXISTING

CAFETERIA SUTTER AVENUE

PLAYGROUND

LOBBY

LEGION STREET

GRAFTON STREET

PS 156 First Floor Plan PROPOSED Screening Process in Available Play Yard

4

MED

PARENTS

1 LEGION STREET

ENTRY

PPE 3

EXAM 2

OUTDOOR TENT

SUTTER AVENUE

CLASS GATHERING

To know what should be provided in a satellite health center, Mitchell Giurgola reviewed the NYCSCA design standard for school-based clinics of which there are 387. Conversely, there are approximately 1,400 schools little more than an office for a school nurse and possibly an examining room and supplies.

A test program was developed based on the SCA 750 NSF school-based medical clinic ramped up to accommodate pandemic-related screening and testing, an isolation room and basic lab.

PRE-COVID

COVID

Approx. 850 GSF

Approx. 2,500 GSF

Typical NYCSCA K-8 School-based Medical Clinic

Satellite Health Centers with p conventional healthcare needs

nic

The footprint of the temporary clinic grew considerably to provide social distancing, minimal interaction among people and ample natural ventilation.

The concept for the design of appropriate temporary and mobile structures is founded on the principle “don’t try to reinvent the wheel”. A brief survey of the industry shows many off-the-shelf rugged, versatile, energy-efficient portable buildings. They are becoming easily available to be purchased off the shelf or leased.

COVID Approx. 2,500 GSF Satellite Health Centers with pandemic scale screening and conventional healthcare needs

Conclusion Aside from its benefits to Covid-related screening and testing, facilities like this could become a great benefit to local communities by providing access to a broad range of health services.

Utilizing GIS mapping allows agencies to process complicated challenges concerning access into straightforward solutions. Merging healthcare and learning at primary and secondary schools will have enormous benefits for civic life. Schools will have added importance as anchors to all people in their neighborhoods. Many families who have had no access to healthcare will now have it daily.

Contributors

Photography

Paul Broches, FAIA, LEED AP, Partner Paul Broches joined Mitchell Giurgola in 1971 and became a partner in 1980. He has significant experience designing K-12 facilities and has led much of the firm’s work with the NYC School Construction Authority and charter school organizations. He has a particular interest in urban design and campus planning and their influence on building design. Paul is a Fellow in the AIA and was elected to the National Academy of Design in 2013 and to the Board in 2018.

MS 114 Jeff Goldberg/ESTO

Pilsoo Kim, AIA, Associate Pilsoo Kim is an Associate with over 15 years of experience at Mitchell Giurgola. He has worked on all significant visualizations in the office, either creating images himself or guiding others in the firm.

Xin Fu, AIA Xin Fu has been involved in the design of many complex projects for educational clients since joining Mitchell Giurgola in 2014. She received a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech.

Taylor Hagan Taylor Hagan is the Marketing Manager at Mitchell Giurgola. She joined the firm in 2017 and received her Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University.

PS 95 Albert Vecerka/ESTO

Mitchell Giurgola is a New York-based architecture firm that is committed to building with perspective and purpose. Buildings for education, particularly those with highly complex functional requirements, are a hallmark of the practice. The firm has extensive experience designing K-12 facilities in the United States and abroad and has worked with the NYC School Construction Authority since 1993.

Mitchell Giurgola Architects LLP 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 711 New York, NY 10036 212.663.4000 MitchellGiurgola.com