BSD adopts new adaptive COVID response plan

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This past summer, the Bangor School District originally planned to return to school with masking optional. Between August 15 and 25, there were 12 cases reported to the district and on August 25, the district began requiring masks for all people over the age of 2 while in school buildings. 

The policy was initiated in response to an outbreak of COVID among the high school football team prior to the start of school on September 1. 

As of September 15, the district had 28 confirmed cases among staff and students since mid-August and had seven active cases.

With the additional positive cases, there has been no evidence of spread happening within the schools. Last year, the district had 40 confirmed cases the entire school year.

With the masking requirement set to expire on Sept. 17, the board voted to allow the masking requirement to expire and follow an administrative recommendation, which reads as follows.

  • Masks continue to be highly recommended, encouraged and promoted for all people 2 and up while inside of the schools.
  • Masks required on all buses.
  • Staff masks will continue to be required.
  • Masks required when in the presence of others for anyone identified as a close contact for a period of 14 days from the last known exposure.
  • Only symptomatic staff and students are excluded by the school. If the health department initiates a quarantine of a student or staff member based on contact tracing, the district will fully support that quarantine and will exclude it for the duration. Students would be offered shortened quarantines with school or clinical based negative tests.
  • Masks required if a single symptom exists, including stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, body ache. If two or more symptoms are present, students would be excluded until 24 hours symptom free.
  • Administration has the right to initiate a three-week period of required masks if at any time the district reaches an outbreak status within any group. This requirement may be limited to only one building or may cover both.
  • Outbreak is three or more connected cases within a group with evidence of continued spread within the group.

“We are tasked with an impossible task to figure out what the best thing to do is. No decision that we make is going to make everybody happy,” said Superintendent David Brokopp. “No decision we make will guarantee the effectiveness in the battle against COVID-19. No decision made will not be able to be picked apart and portions of it discredited.”

Dawn Paisley, a third-grade teacher at Bangor Elementary School, implored the school board to consider reinstating the requirement in an effort to keep all students in school, which she said is the top priority among all parents, staff and administrators.

With masks in place, the start of school marked a return to near normal conditions. The only notable differences other than the masks were a few plexiglass partitions, no drinking fountains, and modified lunches to help with distancing when masks were removed to eat.

“We are functioning as close to pre-pandemic functions as we have and that’s pretty exciting,” Brokopp said. “We’re doing so in a way that we are not showing community spread.”

Positive cases have not resulted in exclusion of close contacts, meaning that students and staff have been able to remain in school, learning unless directly affected by COVID in the household or if they themselves are experiencing symptoms.

“Whether or not the masks are working could be up for debate but there’s evidence that says they are and there’s evidence that says it’s other things that we’re doing that are preventing that from growing,” Brokopp added. “Regardless of that, we like what we’re seeing in that we’re functioning near normal.”

Jacquie Cutts, the public health nursing manager for La Crosse County explained to the board that shutdowns have a cost including decreased academic success, increased abuse reports, increased mental illness and deaths by suicide and overdose and thousands of individuals have lost jobs.

“Safe in-person school and extracurricular activities are really essential both for kiddos and for our economy to function,” Cutts said. “Our kids can’t afford more virtual schooling than what is absolutely necessary. We also can’t afford complacency.”

School District of Bangor

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