Masks optional for Oconto Falls students

Masks will still be optional for Oconto Falls School District students when the new academic year begins Sept. 1.

The school board voted unanimously Aug. 9 to approve a 2021-22 return-to-school plan that keeps in place a May decision that students are not required to wear face coverings in class, although they are encouraged to wear them on school buses.

Classes will be held in person five days a week, with a school board meeting required to approve any change in that policy. Board President Ron Leja has the authority to act with administrators to close schools for a few days in an emergency if a board meeting can’t be held in a timely manner.

Superintendent Dean Hess reported that Oconto County Public Health reports that positive tests for COVID-19 had steadily increased in the county over the previous three weeks, but he also noted that the number specifically for the Oconto Falls School District remained low.

As a result, administrators proposed keeping in place that face coverings are recommended but not mandatory, along with other measures intended to mitigate the threat of infection, such as hand washing and “distancing within reason” in the school setting.

“Rather than starting out with all of the mitigation measures that we were involved in last year, the intent is to recognize the fact that as a school district right now the data still has us in a low setting, and that we implement a level of mitigation that will allow us to start school as much as possible in a pre-COVID setting.”

Hess said with COVID numbers changing weekly, the district may need to consider further mitigation efforts, but that’s not the case at this time.

The board also asked administrators to work with other school districts and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) to ensure that local student athletes are eligible to compete.

Hess said, for example, the WIAA guidelines use the word “should” to describe wearing masks and other safety protocols during the regular season, but the word is that athletes “shall” wear masks, etc., during state tournaments.

The district will continue to monitor public health data for the county and school district and modify mitigation efforts as needed, Hess said.

Board member Clint Gardebrecht said it makes sense to leave masking as an optional decision.

“After being among 38,000 people at a Brewers game yesterday, with far less than 1% of people wearing masks, I think we should continue with optional as we stated before,” Gardebrecht said.

During the public comment section of the meeting, two parents urged the board to leave the optional-mask policy in place.

“It’s not your job to mitigate the potential infection of a virus that has a 99% survival rate, especially by using measures that are proven not to have a positive health impact, such as masking,” said Allie McDonald. “I believe it’s your job as a board and administration to provide good curriculum, well-trained quality teachers, hands-on well-rounded academic program with sports and arts … My job is to make sure my child’s eating healthy, staying active, practicing good hygiene, and those are practical measures that we can take to avoid sickness. It’s part of individual responsibility.”

Jason Wellner said following the WIAA mandatory-mask recommendation “makes zero sense.”

Hess said the board can’t make everybody happy.

“The intent is there to do the best we can, always keeping in mind not only the best interest of our students but also the feedback from members of the community,” he said.