Landing page of reopening plan for Menasha schools. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Menasha Joint School District)
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ) – There is a tentative plan in place for the Menasha Joint School District as they work towards a return to classes this fall.
“The majority of changes that were making, we’re hoping are for a short period of time and will get us through this coronavirus, working hard together. Then we’ll move on and learn and take the good from it, but try to get back to some semblance of normal after this year,” says Superintendent Chris Vander Heyden.
School district officials say the goal is to get everybody back as soon as it’s safe to do so, which means their current plan could change at any time.
“Trying to get all of our Pre-K through fifth grade students in full days, 5 days a week, with a lot of social distancing and a lot of adjustments within their daily schedules. We felt that was very important our communities with child care issues and the need for folks to be able to get to work,” says Vander Heyden, “Grades 6-8 and grades 9-12, we’re basically looking at a couple days a week at school and a couple days a week at home. Just kind of mixing it up, and mainly that’s based in just what we have space for…We just don’t have the room to socially distance properly and bring all of those students back at the same time.”
That means middle and high school students will have a spread out schedule. While they will still be seeing teachers in-person a few times a week, there will be online instruction involved as well.
“To get kids some contact throughout the week with their teachers and spread it out a little bit so that there’s not big gaps of time,” Vander Heyden tells the WTAQ Morning News with Matt and Earl, “Having Cohort A attend school on Monday and Thursday, and Cohort B be there on Tuesday and Friday – that leaves one in the middle and Wednesday would be for some online instructions some one-to-one or small group stuff.”
School officials have put in work in a few classrooms across the district to get a visual of what they would look like with desks in configurations of six feet, five feet, and four feet apart. The challenge, Vander Heyden says, is how they can creatively move tables around and position seating to keep proper distancing in place.
The current plan is based off of feedback from parents as well, and surveys showed a few strong opinions – and continued a major debate.
“A large percentage, 80-plus-percent, wanted kiddos back in school. That was the number one piece of feedback we got, was people really want their kiddos back in school. The rest of it is kind of all over the board,” Vander Heyden says, “About 51-percent were okay with that, about 49-percent were not okay with students having to wear a mask.”
Masks will be required for in-person classes, but school officials don’t expect students to wear them at all times. Vander Heyden says he doesn’t wear one while in his office, but if someone comes in or if he walks into the hallway, he masks up. He thinks the policy will be handled just fine if everyone uses a little common sense.
“If we’re sitting at our desks 6 feet apart, do we need to have a mask on? Probably not. But then when I get called together in a small group where there’s four or five of us doing a reading lesson and we’re in a little closer quarters, we need our masks on,” Vander Heyden says, “If you don’t agree with masks you can find 100 articles and Facebook posts and whatever else supporting your position and vice versa. There’s so much out there.”
The district will work with students or staff who may have health issues surrounding the use of masks. However, some students and staff have already expressed concern with personal health situations and their risk of potentially contracting COVID-19. While not everyone may be comfortable divulging personal health information not known by the district, Vander Heyden says it’s important to figure out how to accommodate people with outlying conditions.
“Employees are also a population that can be impacted by this, and they have families at home and they’re concerned about coming into work and bringing illness back to their household. So we have to be respectful of that as we’re moving forward,” Vander Heyden says.
For Menasha’s full school reopening plan, head to the school district website.
