By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Jessica Roe is known as the COVID Commander in the USD 489 school district.
Roe, who is the lead nurse for the school district, was tasked with coordinating contact tracing for the schools as well as being the go-to person when it came to questions about COVID-19.
Although she is not a teacher, she is being honored this month as the Hays Post Education Professional of Month for her efforts to keep children and their families, as well as teachers and staff safe.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said last week when Roe was honored with the district's Making a Difference Award, her work has been essential to keeping schools open and children learning on site.
Roe was nominated for Hays Post award three times since the beginning of the semester.
Jaymi Gabel, a fellow school nurse working at Roosevelt Elementary School, said in her nomination for the Hay Post award, Roe has been working long hours to fulfill her duties.
"Jessica continues to work day and night, outside of her contracted time, to ensure that the schools are the safest place they can be," Gabel said. "Jessica has two small children of her own and a husband that have been placed on the back burner during this pandemic as a result of Jessica working so hard for the staff, students and community."
Roe answers emails, texts and phone calls from parents, staff, students and community members related to COVID policy and procedures in the school all hours of the day, Gabel said in her nomination.
"Jessica treats every student the way she would want her own children to be treated," Gabel said. "USD 489 and the Hays community are so fortunate to have a nurse on their side such as Jessica."
Renee Hoffman, health office aide at Lincoln Elementary School, said of Roe in her nomination, "She has given 100 percent of herself to this new task and always with a positive attitude.
"As a nurse, she is there to educate the students, staff and parents on COVID precautions and symptoms. Her dedication and support to the school district and community is unmeasurable."
Bethany Pfannenstiel, Hays Middle School nurse, noted Roe continues to be responsible for her other school nurse duties, some of which include health screenings, administering students medication, and assessing sick or injured students and staff.
Roe, BSN, said working as a school nurse during COVID has not only meant longer work days, but it has challenged her as nurse.
"In any other instance when a kid would come in and tell you they're sick, you can assess them on what we've been trained to know," Roe said, "but during COVID, it is hard to say if it's any other kind of illness or is this a COVID-related illness.
"You want to make the best decision and keep the school safe, but we also still want kids to be in school."
At the beginning of the school year, the district was requiring anyone with a close contact to a COVID positive person to quarantine for 14 days.
"That was really hard, especially some of the kids who had to quarantine three or four times," she said. "They would come back for a little bit and they would have to quarantine again."
The Hays school board on Oct. 19 voted to change the quarantine to seven days because it was not seeing a lot spread within the school with students wearing masks, Roe said.
Parents want to have their kids in school, and Roe said the change has made it easier to make those quarantine phone calls.
Roes said she thinks keeping students in classes on site is important as the students receive more focused attention.
Roe said she thinks the district has done a good job of following COVID prevention protocols, including mask wearing and constantly cleaning and sanitizing.
Roe — the only health care worker in her family — said she always wanted to work in health care.
However, Roe, 29, said she never imagined when she went into nursing she would be on the front lines of a global pandemic.
She said answering questions and being a health educator has always been one of the appealing aspects of her job as a school nurse.
"When they get to go to their doctor, they get to hear things that way, but unless you're sick you usually don't go to your doctor," she said. "When they come in and ask questions, you can help educate them or point them in the right direction."
She said she was hopeful last week as Americans began to receive the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
"I look at other counties that have shut schools down. I know we have had a few school closures here and there for short periods, but I look at how far our district's come," Roe said. "We made it a whole semester with very few closures. I think that's amazing."