The Prescott School District School Board met Wednesday in the high school library. Present at the meeting to discuss and hear an update on the school district’s plans for resuming on-site instruction in the fall were Prescott Superintendent Dr. Rick Spicuzza, Board President Mike Matzek, Vice President Steve Sizemore, Treasurer Tanya Holub, Clerk Pat Block, and board member Vicki Rudolph. The board reached the update on school reopening some two hours into the deliberations.

“We’re going to move on to item two, Return to Learn Task force,” it was announced as the setting sun cast a shadow across the library proceedings. “Kind of frame this, moving from crisis to calm, but with urgency.” With work continuing on through the summer, Spicuzza said that the amount of work done was “monumental,” but also that “these aren’t perfect solutions.”

“We understood we couldn’t eliminate all risk,” he said of COVID-19 transmission. “But when we could, we would make adaptations to be more in kind with the recommendations from the CDC, Wisconsin Department of Health, Pierce County” and registered school nurse Cassie Butler, employed through the district and on hand to give an update that night. Spicuzza said that the district had followed the ‘Guiding Change’ document and that it believed “the most effective educational model is to have students in our facilities with our teachers under the best conditions possible.” Nonetheless, opening up was a risk by itself, as the Superintendent noted.

“By definition, restarting and having students on campus is and will be considered a low to moderate risk endeavor,” Spicuzza said, as it was revealed that a return to on campus learning would take place August 31 to “reacclimate” to the building, followed up with an official start date to 2020-21 school year of September 1st. Although after school, WIAA Sports were also rated as being low, moderate, or high risk.

With the WIAA reportedly meeting soon, Spicuzza said that there was “movement in southeast Wisconsin”—an area hard hit by COVID-19—to consider flip-flopping sports seasons from fall to spring and vice versa.

“By definition, that would eliminate any kind of state championships,” he said, on account that such changes would not likely be universal “unless WIAA mandated it,” which was deemed unlikely by the Prescott superintendent at the Wednesday school board meeting— but there was more.

“Ultimately that we are in Pierce County, and that the health department does have the authority to isolate and quarantine any individual who tests positive for COVID,” he said. Regarding school, the decision would be made by public health, rather than the district ultimately, although hopefully in partnership.

“We want to make sure that you understood that our administrative team, staff, and Cassie were involved in every single site to look at a design team,” Spicuzza said of making plans to reopen the different school buildings safely.

Looking to the relevant Guiding Change goal as returning to a physical learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year, Spicuzza acknowledged that there would always be some risk so long as the present situation continues.

“We know that it’s occurring during an active pandemic, so while we’re maintaining an safe environment we can’t eliminate all risk,” he said of the Fall school re-opening. Taking over from the Superintendent to walk the school board and those present through the plans for reopening and also staying up to date in the meantime was Prescott school nurse Cassie Butler.

Saying that she had been in at least weekly contact since March with a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) consultant and also had weekly meetings with Pierce County Health (“sometimes more like daily”) along with CDC calls and webinars to learn as much as possible, Butler said finally that she was in contact with other nurses throughout Pierce County to try and maintain consistency, and that the group had a medical director, Dr. Sarah Margaret.

“We also have a medical director, Dr. Sarah Margaret—she’s local—so she’s part of this decision as well,” Butler told the school board and those present in the high school library. The school nurse had also started a newsletter that was emailed out to parents, currently monthly but with the option for greater frequency. The newsletter can be found at the district website at www.prescott.k12.wi.us/ by clicking the “COVID & R2L” tab at the top right and then navigating to “Nurse’s Newsletter” on the same tab. The Nurse’s Newsletter wasn’t the only update to give though.

“There have been multiple occupational outbreaks,” Butler said as she navigated those present through the county website at https://www.co.pierce.wi.us/ under the “learn more about Covid-19” tab. Most occupational outbreaks had been in River Falls she said, but COVID was also spreading across Pierce County, and residential outbreaks must be listed for 28 days, Butler said. The link shows the current threat level (“High”) and also whether the local public health system is still able to keep up with the current situation. Those listed in the graph section under “probable cases” on the county website are those who haven’t tested positive but had close contact with someone who did, and so are treated as though they have the virus from the standpoint of securing public health. Of the Prescott school district reopening on-site she said that, “There will be visitor restrictions, and that’s just so we can protect our students and staff.”

Part 2 of the Prescott School District’s Return to Learn – including what the school day will look like – will appear in the July 30 edition of The Journal.