Rib Lake goes virtual through Oct. 9

Impacts Rib Lake high school and middle school

Rib Lake High School and Middle School will be going virtual through Oct. 9 due to exposure to COVID-19.

On Sunday, school officials posted a statement to the district’s Facebook page announcing the intention to go to virtual at-home instruction this week for the high school.

“Over the past three days, we have been informed that Rib Lake High School students have tested positive for COVID-19. We have been actively working in collaboration with the Taylor County Health Department to determine the best course of action for both the student population and the district,” the letter, dated September 27 stated.

The statement continued: “This move is being made partly as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk factors by not congregating students. Due to the highly involved nature of our students, there was a sizable number of students who were considered close contacts. Going to all virtual learning will give all students the ability to learn and not fall behind. We also see this decision as in the best interest of sustaining long term in-class learning and possibly limiting the community from any exposure.”

Teachers will use the scheduled class time to perform instruction (live or recorded), facilitate activities, assess, and contact students. The district made arrangements with students to retrieve Chromebooks from the school building.

On Tuesday school officials in coordination with the Taylor County Health Department extended virtual learning to the Rib Lake Middle School, beginning on Sept. 30.

In a letter to the community school offi cials stated: “At the middle school level today, we reached a 10% illness rate which triggers our alert consideration. With a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the middle school level, the district is approaching this situation with caution. We have been actively working in collaboration with the Taylor County Health Department to determine the best course of action for both the student population and the district.” Rib Lake schools

According to the district, the move to virtual is being made partly as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk factors by not congregating students.

“Going to all virtual learning will give all students the ability to learn and not fall behind. We also see this decision as in the best interest of sustaining long term in-class learning and possibly limiting the community from any exposure,” the district stated.

“With the interconnectivity with both buildings, both the High School and Middle School will be remote learning through Friday, Oct. 9. We realize that this may be highly inconvenient for families but the decision is being made in the best interest of our students, staff and community,” the district stated.

The School District and the Health Department will not include specific names, staff groups, or other information to protect the privacy rights of the individuals as required by law.

Rib Lake Schools, along with other area schools are urging those who are ill, or have been in contact with those who are ill to remain home from school.

As of Wednesday, Taylor County has had 202 confi rmed cases of COVID-19 since last March, this is up from 151 confirmed cases the prior week.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 climbed to four over the weekend. Due to privacy laws, county public health director Patty Krug could only confirm they had received word of the death and that the individual was over 60 years old.