By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
The Whitewater Unified School District board, over several meetings beginning July 27 has struggled with decisions regarding the safe reopening of the schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 10 the board adopted the Jefferson County Health Department guidance for school reopening, and on August 24 they accepted a revision to that document which recommended using a metric of average daily positive cases per 100,000 persons. That guidance indicated that if the county cases equaled or exceeded an average of 25 per day, instruction should be virtual. In Whitewater’s case, this metric would be based on blending the case index, which the State refers to as the burden, of Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth counties based on the residences of the student population.
On September 14 the board affirmed the plan to return to fulltime in-person instruction on September 28. By that time the blended daily rate stood at 16.48. By September 16, however, largely impacted by the return of UW-W students, that rate surged to 35.68, and as of the September 23 board meeting the rate was 40.49. Consequently the board on September 23 faced a decision as to whether to abide by the guidance and renege on the plan to reopen fully on September 28. The discussion repeatedly centered on the tension between safety versus the recognition that for most students in-person instruction is the optimum model.
District Administrator Caroline Pate-Hefty indicated that 76.82% of parents, representing 1286 students, had chosen in a recent survey to send their children to in-person instruction. The remaining parents chose virtual (online) instruction. 233 students had been approved to open enroll in other districts, with another approximately 70 having applied but not yet having been approved. At a cost of $8125 per student, those already approved represent a loss to the district of about $528,000.
Dr. Pate-Hefty indicated that thus far in the semester eight students had tested positive for COVID-19. She provided comparisons of the current burdens of the other UW System communities. Three of the districts had implemented in-person instruction when their burden exceeded 25, and four districts were currently providing either face to face instruction or a hybrid model while the metric is over 25.
The board listened for an hour to citizen comments, which represented a wide variety of opinions. At least six parents, while acknowledging that they would like to have their children back to in-person classes, stated that they had concern about the safety of going fulltime given the COVID incidence in the community. Four parents complained of what they perceived as yoyo decisions by the board on the reopening subject, which they stated was making things very difficult for parents. Parent Neil Hicks advocated returning to fulltime in-person instruction, stating that we’re going to be dealing with COVID for a long time and he felt that there is a lot of fear mongering. High school senior Cora Linos, in a recorded statement played by her mother, made an impassioned plea that the science is clear, that the risks are real, and to return to in-person classes at this time would be to say that students, teachers, and community members do not matter. “We do matter,” she implored. Parent Ryan Weston lamented that his children’s abilities are regressing due to the lack of in-person instruction.
There seemed to be agreement that virtual instruction was generally not working well for elementary age students. Although there was a desire to resume face-to-face instruction for the middle and high school students, the principals of those schools expressed concern about the inability to provide for social distancing simultaneously for the entire student body. Their recommendation was to begin with a hybrid “AB” model, where, for example, students with surnames starting with A-K would attend in-person classes on Monday and Tuesday, and the remainder of the students on Thursday and Friday. Classes would generally have about 10-12 students. The remainder of the week for each student would be virtual, with Wednesday providing the teachers time to assist students virtually who are having difficulty with the technology or with the assignments. Wednesday could also be a day for student clubs to meet virtually. A particular complication at the high school is that carpeting recently had to be replaced in several classrooms due to water damage, and there is a toxic odor that is not expected to clear until October 12.
A motion to provide fulltime face-to-face instruction for 4K through 5th grade beginning on September 28, and the hybrid model for middle/high school students to begin on October 12 passed on a 4-3 vote, with Casey Judd, Jennifer Kienbaum, and Jim Stewart dissenting. The motion included board review of the instruction methods at its meeting on October 26, with potential for implementation of any changes on November 2. Ms. Kienbaum had expressed the opinion that fulltime instruction should begin for all grades on September 28.
In response to a prior request from the board to consider live streaming of instruction for middle/high school students who would prefer that over the third-party virtual instruction, Dr. Pate-Hefty indicated that is would be necessary to purchase approximately $77,000 of equipment. Concern was expressed that the quality of in-person instruction might be diminished by splitting the teachers’ attention, and there was no action taken on the matter.
Finally there was discussion about whether the board had chosen to eliminate the “community-level” metrics for determining tiers of instruction. Steve Ryan expressed that he felt the metric had not been eliminated, but that the board had chosen to ignore it. A motion to suspend utilization of a community-level metric passed on a 4-3 vote, with Casey Judd, Steve Ryan, and Jim Stewart opposed. Though some concerns had been expressed about reverting to strictly classroom and school-level metrics, and there had been some effort to modify the Jefferson County metrics for WUSD, the only remaining metrics are:
Classroom-specific: If one student or staff is confirmed positive, the physical classroom closes for two days. If alternative space and staff are available, students and staff not in close contact may continue attending in person.
School-specific: Three or more confirmed positive cases among students and staff within a one-week (five day) period results in the school shifting to fully virtual for three days.
The meeting had convened at 6:30 p.m. and adjourned at 10:37.
