School slated to start mask-optional

The Cedar Grove-Belgium School District plans to continue its optional-mask policy when school starts Sept. 1.

Administration developed a proposal last month that the School Board will address on Wednesday, Aug. 11, that calls for trying to have distance between students but not a specific perimeter, Supt. Chad Brakke said in a video message to parents.

Masks are still required on school buses, per federal travel requirements, but those are slated to be reviewed in September and may change, Brakke said.

Covid-19 testing is expected to be available for students through a state program. Positive cases require a 10-day quarantine, just like last school year.

Parents of students in the same classes and who have come in close contact with someone who has contracted Covid-19 will be notified, but this year requirements will be different.

“We’re not going to do contact tracing for close contacts and not mandate quarantining for those close contacts in school,” Brakke said.

Parents of students who have come in close contact with someone with Covid-19 will be contacted and reminded that if their children display symptoms that testing is available, he said.

If someone in a student’s home tests positive for Covid-19, students will have to quarantine until after their last day of contact unless they’ve been vaccinated, Brakke said.

School nurse Kristina Gabrielse will work with families on those protocols, he said.

The district will not offer an online option this year.

“Teachers will work with families just as they always have to get them (school)work and get them caught up if they’re out for an extended period,” Brakke said.

Brakke said he expects an uptick in cases in fall as students return to school and activities, just like last year.

“I’m just hoping that it won’t be as extreme or disruptive,” he said.

The district would make adjustments as needed.

“Things are always changing but this is where we’re at now,” Brakke said.

The School Board in April voted 6-1 to make masks optional. More than 50 people, including students, attended the April 14 board meeting with most calling for the elimination of the school year-long mask requirement, which could be lifted after the state Supreme Court found Gov. Tony Evers’ emergency orders that mandated wearing masks unconstitutional.

The district held in-person school last year and an online option.

 The district held an online survey that showed 75% to 80% of parents supported lifting the mask requirement, although the format allowed people to vote multiple times. Brakke summed up some of the comments that came in with survey results.

“Many of those comments criticized the wisdom of the district to even consider the other point of view. My leadership was challenged and my intelligence was challenged just because I was listening to the other side,” he said.

Staff members who don’t have children in school were split 50-50 on the mask requirement, board President Chad Hoopman said, while staff members with children supported making masks optional by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

Brakke said the teachers association leaders requested the mask requirement remain, citing teachers’ sacrifices to keep students in school and a fear that many students would switch to online learning for the final five weeks of the year.

The administrative team also wanted to keep the mask requirement, Brakke said.

School starts Sept. 1.