ELLSWORTH – At a special meeting held May 19, the Ellsworth School Board voted to make face coverings/masks options for all students, staff and visitors beginning on June 5, 2021. The last day of the regular school year is June 2; summer school begins June 7.

“With this, it will be up to each individual and family to decide for themselves if a face covering is worn while in our school buildings for our summer school program and other summer operations,” said a letter sent to all Ellsworth Community School District parents.

Parents can expect further communication about the use of masks on school buses and in the Panther Kids’ Club daycare program pending further review of the current CDC order, the letter continued.

Face coverings are still required for all individuals in school building through June 4, 2021, per the current Pierce County Public Health Advisory Order.

“I am voting in favor because I realize we need to take responsibility for ourselves,” board member Susan Beck said. “I will be wearing a mask still as I have a family member who is compromised.”

“The beauty in making this a voluntary thing, is people can do what’s best for them,” said Board President Doug Peterson. “It touches on both sides.”

Superintendent Barry Cain said it’s important for the district to clearly communicate to the community what this means, because “people are all over the board on this (masks).” He urged everyone to respect other people’s decisions.

“We don’t need to have kids walking around here hearing comments on whether they’re wearing a mask or not,” Cain said.

The parent letter asked “all students, staff, and resident to respect the right of individuals who choose to continue wearing face coverings.”

Cain presented information to the board before its decision about area districts’ handling of masks after the end of the school year. Out of 37 survey responses in CESA 11, 29 school districts are mandating masks for the remainder of the school year, while eight are making masks options. As for summer school, 31 districts responded to a survey. Six districts are requiring masks inside (one of these requires masks in transitional areas only). One district is requiring masks for staff, but the school board was still deciding for students. Nineteen districts were making masks optional inside; six districts were to be determined (including Ellsworth and Prescott at that point).

As for legal considerations, on March 1, 2020, a state law was passed making districts immune from civil liability for the death of or injury to any individual or damages caused by an act or omission resulting in or relating to exposure to COVID in the course of the performance of school functions. This, however, does not gives districts carte blanche to ignore government orders or advisories that are in place, as it may be considered “wanton” or “reckless conduct,” Cain said.

Another consideration is providing a safe workplace for staff, he added. Hardly any staff is saying no to teaching summer school, with or without masks, Cain said. About 70 percent of staff are fully vaccinated and all have had the opportunity to vaccinate if they choose to.

Board member Katie Feuerhelm asked how contact tracing will be handled going forward. Cain answered that PCPH is following the 6 feet, 15-minute rules for quarantining still, and the district will adhere to that rule.

“The district never quarantines,” Cain said. “Public health does.”

Open enrollment

The board approved the following transfers into the district for the 2021-22 school year:

•One 4YK student from Baldwin

•One 4YK student from Plum City

•From Prescott: two 4YK, one second grade (already attending Ellsworth), one sixth grade, one ninth grade and one junior

•From River Falls: one 4YK, one freshman, one sophomore, one junior. The three high school students are already attending Ellsworth.

Three special education student requests from Plum City were denied (a first-grader, a third-grader and a ninthgrader). The reason for the denial is there is no space available for these special education students. The criteria for determining this includes:

•Class size limits or pupil-teacher ratios

•Staffing capacity limit, including:

•The amount of services pupils may need (e.g., minutes/hours, days per week)

•Class/group size based on intensity of pupil needs (e.g., 1:1, small group, crisis intervention)

•The type of staff to address various disability-related needs (e.g., special education teacher, pupil services staff, related services, paraprofessional, etc.)

•Projected pupil enrollment and changes to services in pupils’ IEPs .

The district must also account for students already in the district and / or new students moving into the district that are already identified as special education.

As for those transferring out of the district, 22-27 per year is typical. This year, 34 transfer out requests were approved. But of those, only four are currently attending Ellsworth, Cain said.

“The vast majority of those are not already attending, whether it’s because of homeschooling or virtual,” Cain said. “There is a trend across the state and many are COVID-based.”

Other factors for transfers include the location of a family’s daycare, where siblings attend, or enrolling in virtual programs.