Mercer County public school districts’ top administrators collaborated on securing COVID-19 vaccines for their grades pre-K to 12 staff.
The district superintendents secured five opportunities for staff vaccinations: March 26 at Penn Medicine Princeton Health Center, March 27 and April 3 at Crockett Middle School in Hamilton via Walgreens, the week of April 5 at the Burlington County Mega-Site in Moorestown, and April 6 at Lawrence High School (LHS) in conjunction with Penn Medicine Princeton Health Center.
Lawrence Schools Superintendent Ross Kasun coordinated with central office and LHS administrators and staff, and Ewing School District Superintendent Michael Nitti, to organize the LHS clinic, according to information provided by the district.
A total of 143 people received the Moderna vaccine on April 6 at Lawrence High.
Second vaccination injections are scheduled for May 4.
“You could actually sense the relief staff felt as they expressed their appreciation in response to the emails we sent about vaccination appointment openings,” Kasun said in the statement. “I think I can speak for my superintendent colleagues in that we are so pleased we could offer this peace of mind to our staff and add vaccinations to the multiple measures districts have taken to provide safe learning spaces and conditions during these challenging times.”
Lawrence personnel on hand at the April 6 clinic included Kasun; Andrew Zuckerman, assistant superintendent; David Adam, LHS principal: Cliff Williams, Fay Lopez and Damian Bariexca, LHS assistant principals; Luis Ruiz and Martha Pereira, custodians; Laurie Wilson, Lynne Traina, Susanne Adamsky, Rebecca Doherty and Alison Lalli, nurses; Chris Boutote, Bill Chester, Bernadette Clark, Debbie Martin, Sam Pastorella and Bennie Williams, security guards; Suzanne Girard, school resource officer; and Mike Cseremsak, Class III officer.
Ewing School District staff assisting on April 6 included Leslie Curran and Joanne Trevor, nurses; Theresa Hullings and Lauren Zablow, administrative/secretaries); and Don Ellison and William Wolverton, security guards.
Mercer County superintendents involved in the collaborations included David Aderhold of West Windsor-Plainsboro, Brian Betze of Robbinsville, Mark Daniels of East Windsor, Barry Galasso of Princeton, Kasun, Joan Kranisky of Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf, Alfonso Llano of Trenton, Nitti, Scott Rocco of Hamilton, and Thomas Smith of Hopewell.