Getting Back to School Safely

“Back to School 2020” will take on different meanings across the country depending upon where school districts are located and upon which guidance or state mandates each school district must follow. For some, “Back to School” will mean fully virtual/online education, and for others it will mean partial or full reopening of schools. When “Back to School” occurs will also vary across the country depending upon the severity of COVID-19 infection rates in each community. Our partner GRS Reconstruction Services (GRS) and our K-12 Center of Excellence are teaming to provide support and assistance to school districts with the following considerations to assist school operations and facilities managers for the eventual safe reopening of schools across the country.

Re-Occupy Considerations and Best Practices

Establish priorities
Perform site assessments
Establish common health and safety protocols
Implement PPE recommendations based on workspace and role
Develop pre-entry checklists
Develop signage
Perform HVAC/mechanical assessments
Consider social partitioning and social distancing Methods
Develop vehicle disinfection protocols
Provide training for cleaning and janitorial staff
Legal considerations: best practices, precedence

Pre-Planning Phase: Buildings and People

Establish procedures for testing, screening and tracking
Understand impacts to learning functions, re-orientation of the students, residential housing
Ergonomics: identify what works and what training is necessary
Getting faculty on board: what needs to change to improve safety in the classroom, the library, etc.

Re-Occupancy Processes: Environmental Health

Establish procedures and expectations for cleaning, sanitization and disinfection
Cleaning the Air: fogging/electrostatic/aerosols
Provide training of maintenance and transportation staff

Physical Barriers & Social Distancing

Consider partitions/Plexiglas
Establish traffic patterns
Establish personal protective equipment expectations
Perform a population risk assessment

Architectural Recommendations

Adjust traffic patterns
Make space accommodations that are specific to space and use recommendations

Protecting Students, Faculty, Administration and Parents

CDC signage
Floor decals
Social distancing recommendations
Face mask/PPE recommendations

Engineering Controls

Ventilation
HVAC modifications
Filtration improvements
Indirect UV lighting in classrooms

How Gilbane’s K-12 COE and GRS are partnering to help clients get back to school safely

GRS was created to service the needs of clients and their facilities due to both natural and man-made disasters. Many will have a need for rapid reconstruction which is different than planned construction projects. The primary goal is to reduce downtime and control costly interruption expenses.

GRS believes there are two main platforms upon which the re-occupancy program is built: People and Buildings.


The People Platform addresses building disinfection, social distancing, personal protection and new procedures/protocols to control and prevent COVID-19 infections.	The Building Platform utilizes “social partitioning” when social distancing isn’t possible or practical. It also uses HVAC Solutions to minimize the transmission of airborne viruses.

GRS has a team of industrial hygienists, architects, HVAC engineers and construction experts that will work with you to develop the best plan for your facilities with options in both people and building-focused solutions.

To augment this, Gilbane’s K-12 Center of Excellence, which is comprised of our most experienced K-12 professionals across the country, can assist GRS by lending expertise in K-12 construction and renovation to assist in ensuring that the re-occupancy program is executed quickly and safely.

School administrators and staff: What actions are you taking to get back to school this fall? Please take the survey below:

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About Authors

Susan Tully

With over 34 years of experience in construction and nearly 20 years at Gilbane, Sue Tully has managed a large portfolio of projects with a concentration in the education sector. In addition to her leadership role on projects, she is Gilbane’s K-12 Education Center of Excellence leader. She serves as a resource for all K-12 education project teams by bringing lessons learned and best practices from a depth of K-12 experience across the country. Sue ensures knowledge-sharing on current trends, sustainable design practices, construction solutions, and operational issues specific to the K-12 sector. Her project involvement includes the Community College of Philadelphia, Princeton University, Rider University, Rutgers University, Trenton School District and multiple facilities for the School District of Cheltenham Township. She is currently leading construction on a new Turnkey K-8 School for the School District of Philadelphia which is being delivered under a finance, design and construction contract.

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