Colby K-12 reinstitutes partial mask mandate

Students in the Colby School District will once again have to wear masks — at least while they’re in classrooms — after the school board took action Monday to stem the tide of COVID-19 quarantines.

The partial mask mandate will go into effect Monday, with the goal of lowering the number of students identified as “close contacts” being sent home.

However, the board also defied the Clark County Health Department, which urged the district to immediately send home students who are either symptomatic or have been identified as close contacts to a COVID-positive individual.

In a Sept. 15 letter to the school board, public health officer Brittany Mews took issue with the board’s action from last month, which allows symptomatic students to stay in school and leaves it solely up to the health department to issue quarantines.

Mews said the board’s directives are “hindering the superintendent, principals, school nurse and other pertinent staff from protecting the health and safety of your staff and student body.”

Mews warned the board that the health department could overrule the district’s decision on handling close contacts.

“If the school district knows of students and/or staff members who have tested positive and/or have been exposed to COVID-19, and the district is allowing them to remain in school and/or participate in extracurricular activities, this action is violating the law and endangering the health of the students and staff,” she wrote.

A motion to send close contacts home right away failed to garner enough votes from the board on Monday. Board members Cheryl Ploeckelman and Eric Elmhorst were the only ones to vote in favor of the motion, which failed 2-4.

As of Monday, the district had 245 students listed as quarantined, but superintendent Steven Kolden said only about 75 were actually staying at home. A total of 31 students have tested positive, which is just 20 less than all of last year.

“That’s a lot in two weeks of school,” Kolden said.

Board member Dave Decker said he’s reviewed guidelines set by other districts, and Colby’s “fall right in line with all of the other districts in our area, including ones in Clark County.” He said he feels as if Colby is being “singled out.”

“I still think we need to allow the county to do the actual quarantining themselves,” he said. “I don’t know that we should be the ones who send those students home immediately.”

Still, Decker said he was “alarmed” by the speed at which COVID cases have spread throughout the district. Decker said he has talked to a lot of parents who are “terrified” about what happens when their students are not allowed in school due to quarantines.

Decker made a motion to require mask wearing in classrooms as a way to drastically reduce the number of quarantines caused by close contact designations. When masks are worn, the buffer zone around COVID-positive individuals is three feet rather than six when determining close contacts. “I don’t care for the masks, either. I’m being totally honest with you,” Decker said. “But, what I dislike even more is students being sent home or students being told to quarantine. We need to keep our students in school.”

Board member Teri Hanson questioned Decker’s proposal, which only applies to students when they are in the classroom and not when they are attending sporting events or practices.

“Why does it work just during the school day and not after school?” she said. “That’s my only question.”

Decker said contact tracing is done much differently outside of a classroom setting, and he’s not as worried about students getting quarantined in those situations.

A motion to require masks in classrooms passed by a 6-0 vote, with one absence.

Kolden said he believes the district’s numbers are “going to drop significantly” after the mask mandate is reinstated.

Still, Mews made it clear in her letter that the health department wanted more swift action taken to remove students who are showing possible signs of COVID infection.

“I am strongly advising the district to require symptomatic students and/or staff to stay home and not attend school and extracurricular activities,” she wrote.

As written, the board’s policy directs the district to notify a student’s parents if they have shortness of breath, cough or a fever of 100.4 degrees, among other symptoms. It does not mandate that symptomatic students be sent home.

“This decision should not be left to the discretion of the parent, as allowing sick individuals to remain in school affects the health and safety of others,” Mews wrote.

Based on what he has read, Decker said the health department has the authority to order the school district to take action to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“If you’re concerned about the masks, the quarantines and the push for vaccinations, that starts at the county level,” he told the audience on Monday.

“We’re given these rules to follow, and if we don’t follow them, we can get our district in trouble,” he added.

Board president Bill Tesmer said the letter to the board cites state statutes regarding the ability of the health department to take action.

“We’re under the gun here,” he said. “This is on the board. If the board doesn’t do something, the county will.”

Kolden went through what he believes are the health department’s options when it comes to enforcing COVID guidelines. He said the public health nurse has the ability to quarantine classrooms but not the entire school, for example.

“She does have the authority to order the school to comply with these restrictions. “If the school district fails, then she can impose a monetary fine on the district.”

Kolden also said that deviating from the guidelines set by the health department could put the district at greater risk of a lawsuit, even though the legislature has granted limited immunity to school districts. He said it all depends on whether a district is deemed to be acting in a way that is “wanton and reckless.”

“Somewhere along the line, there’s going to be a test case, and I don’t want to be that test case,” he said.

The board also passed a motion allowing students to take advantage of a seven- or 10-day quarantine, which allows them to return early as long as they wear masks and practice social distancing.

Virtual option to be offered

During public comment on Monday, a number of parents said more needs to be done to serve students who are out on quarantine.

Parent Jennifer Lopez encouraged the board to give students the option to livestream their classrooms while they are at home. She said her son and nephews both experienced academic setbacks last year because they didn’t have reliable access to their classes.

“For my son to lose 14 days of education, that can’t happen,” she said. “It obviously worked very terribly last year.”

Senior Richard Streveler, the new student representative on the school board, was asked what he was hearing from classmates about the experience of being on quarantine. He said “a better option” is needed for kids to stay caught up with their class work.

“I know a lot of students who view getting quarantined as getting a two week break from school, where they don’t have to worry about it,” he said. “They can’t really get what they need to do their homework.”

Parent Amanda Haupt chided the board for doing “absolutely nothing” to prevent the surge of COVID cases and quarantines in the district.

“We are allowing students and parents to attend our schools while they’re positive,” she said. “They’re posting it online. There’s even people praising them for making this decision.”

Haupt said her kids are not able to attend school in-person, and she has no option for virtual instruction.

“Please, I’m begging you, offer us something,” she said.

The board did vote to hire a full-time teacher to offer longterm virtual instruction, similar to what the Rural Virtual Academy does. Board members also directed Kolden to look into purchasing better cameras for teachers to use so they can livestream or record their lessons for students at home.

Board member Teri Hanson said numerous staff members have told her that they were not prepped to go into the school year, and she wondered why there wasn’t a district-wide meeting on how to prepare more for COVID-related issues.

“We’ve done this for a year and a half,” she said. “This should have been a better semester heading into the fall.”

Steve Wozniak, the middle school’s guidance counselor, refuted the idea that teachers are unprepared for having to go online if necessary. He pointed to a recent incident in which an entire fifth grade class was quarantined, and by the next day, all but three students were learning online.

Wozniak said each class is going to have a different way of providing distance learning, and that’s not going to look the same at every grade level and in each subject area.

“It is completely false that we don’t have a plan,” he said. “When kids go virtual, we have a plan.”

COVID continued to dominate the public participation portion of the meeting, as parents complained about the district either being too strict or too lenient when it came to enforcing rules.

Teacher Sarah Oehmichen said she was upset about unvaccinated staff members being discriminated against by having to stay home in the event they are considered a “close contact.”

“People are being punished for being close to kids and doing their job,” she said.

Oehmichen asked the board to accept a COVID antibody test — showing that someone has short-term immunity — rather than automatically quarantining.

Parent Sarah Halsell pointed to the large number of COVID cases and quarantines and said she wants more done to make sure her kids are safe at school.

“I’ve heard of people coming to school who are positive and nothing’s being done about it,” she said. “And other kids are being quarantined because of it.”

Tanya Geiger questioned why kids were being singled out for COVID restrictions when other people are packing sports stadiums and concert venues.

“Why are our children being treated like lepers?” she asked.

Geiger also raised concerns about the impact of quarantines on students.

“It’s a lot of school that they’re missing, and they’re obviously not getting the education they need for the 14 days that they are quarantined,” she said.

Parent Kim Meier emphasized that quarantines are only recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and do not carry the weight of a legal mandate.

“It’s not a requirement, it’s not a must. It’s not ‘This is the law, and do it or else,’” she said. “It’s a recommendation.”

Parent Matt Oehmichen concluded the public participation period by urging the board to make a “definitive statement” on what the district’s COVID rules are going forward.

“Just remember that you’re the local ordinance, you’re the local government,” he said. “If you ask anybody at the state or federal level, it starts with you and moves up the chain, so if you’re going to make a decision on anything, make sure it’s done justly and reflects the community, as a true democracy should.”