The Appleton Area School District Board of Education by a vote of 4-2 voted to approve the administrative team’s recommendation that the 2021-22 school year started out with masking recommended but optional.
The word “flexibility” was used multiple times throughout the presentation, and the administrative team would have the authority to move to masks being required without the Board of Education holding another vote.
Overall, the administrative team indicated they were hoping to take a more targeted approach with the ability to focus on individual classrooms and layer in more mitigations protocols such as masking in specific situations.
Hand hygiene stations will continue to be available through all buildings as well as disinfecting wipes. Those may never go away because they have been helpful in reducing other illnesses in addition to Covid.
Classroom materials will not continue to be quarantined.
There will be changes to the quarantining of students also. If a student tests positive and has unvaccinated AASD students in their household, those unvaccinated students will be required to quarantine; however, family members who are vaccinated and asymptomatic will not be required to quarantine. Students in a classroom with a positive case will not be required to quarantine, although notes will go home to the families of students in a classroom with a positive case so that parents can monitor for symptoms.
The administrative team was encouraged by the summer school numbers in which only 3 students tested positive, with community transmission rates, and vaccine accessibility.
Board President Kay Eggert was one of the two nay votes. She was concerned for the safety of students 11 and under who cannot not get vaccinated. She was also worried that something would change within the next few weeks and floated the idea of holding the vote until the next Board of Education meeting on 08/09/2021.
Board Member Kris Sauter was the second nay vote, and she was concerned about the outsized impact this would have on the schooling options for immunocompromised students.
Board Member Gary Janhke thought it was important to give families a choice.
The recommendations from the administrative team to start the year off with masking recommended but optional was approved by the Board 4-2 with Jim Bowman, Ed Ruffolo, Gary Jahnje, and Deb Truyman voting in favor of it and Kay Eggert and Kris Sauter voting again. Board Member Barry O’Connor was not present.
View meeting details here: http://go.boarddocs.com/wi/aasd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=C4NJVA4C155C
View meeting video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2MKf_rtDeA
There should be a vaccine requirement for all district employees. This new strain of the virus is 1,000 times more transmissible. We are past the point where public health policies are optional.