By: Erica Stanisho of KDKA-TV
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — School lunches look a little different this year at a charter school in Pittsburgh.
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Students at Environmental Charter School on South Braddock Avenue eat their lunch outside in tents to reduce the spread of COVID-19, according to the primary school.
ECS Chief Operating Officer James Doyle said students have been eating out since the third week of school.
“As part of our initial take on Covid mitigation and when we fully opened our school to students, because last year, we actually had about half the capacity and buildings, we identified specific strategies that will help us to stay safe and secure. will allow students to participate in learning activities. But then lunch too,” Doyle said.
Recently, Doyle said the school has purchased a 26-by-40-foot tent that will help it withstand harsh temperatures as winter approaches.
“Targeting with the big tent that has sides, the airflow is still 100 percent. You’re getting full air, but we can put all our students outside at the same time, which makes it a more conducive space,” Doyle said.
Doyle said outdoor learning is part of the core of its academic curriculum and that having lunch outside adds to the school’s mission.
“In this building we’re in now, we’re right next to Frick Park. We take our students out every day. So it’s a perfect, right way to do what we already do day in and day out,” Doyle he said.
But some parents worry as temperatures continue to drop and question how safe it is to eat in a tent inside the cafeteria.
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“If the whole idea is to be vigilant like COVID, once you put up a tent and put up a heater, shouldn’t the kids be inside at that time? Because I mean, heating up an enclosed space like this for kids to eat makes me feel like a petri dish of germs instead,” says a parent who didn’t want to be recognized.
The district said it has two 1,500-watt electric stand heaters that will go into the tents when it gets cold outside.
“According to the square footage, it is substantial and can still be operated safely with students in tents,” said ECS spokeswoman Dina Calipare.
In an email sent to parents this week, the school explained that the heaters have not yet been installed and said that students remember to bring jackets to school.
Doyle said about 100 students eat in the tent during each lunch hour.
“I am sending my children to school. I’m not sending them skiing. Why do I need to put an extra layer of clothing on my child so they can have lunch outside?” said one parent.
In a statement sent to KDKA, Calipare said, “ECS plans to continue this mitigation effort for as long as possible, weather permitting.”
The KDKA asked the school if it had a temperature limit on when it would allow students to eat inside. Doyle said he plans to monitor the temperature and play it by ear.
“If it feels too cold or if it gets a little too cold, we won’t put our students outside. But it’s going to be working on that as we go forward,” Doyle said. “I guess it would be like just feeling it and seeing what the heaters are capable of. And if not, bring her back inside.”
“I was really excited to hear that they have put this plan in place to keep our kids as safe as possible during this time and be able to give them good airflow,” said parent Maya Huptas.
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“We will make sure that the space is safe, the place is warm, and the space is inviting for our kids to be able to have lunch safely,” Doyle said.
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