Oak Creek-Franklin Changed Course On School Reopening

From the Wisconsin Examiner:

By Terrence Falk

OAK CREEK, WI — Many Wisconsin school districts planned to reopen this fall with a traditional schedule. Now some of those districts are rethinking that decision. Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District received an “F” on its school opening plans from the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) Region 7, as the Wisconsin Examiner reported.

On August 13, the Oak Creek Franklin school board held a special board meeting and decided to abandon its plan and go virtual.

Eleven community members spoke out in favor of maintaining a traditional schedule. They addressed their inability to cover child care, their concerns about their children’s social/emotional needs, and that fact that the quality of virtual instruction didn’t compare with the classroom learning.

Two parents of special needs students stated that virtual instruction just wouldn’t work for their children.

Other parents were critical of the district’s in-person plans. One stated that the district was not following any of the medical recommendations other than having students wear masks. “If one child in the city of Oak Creek dies, that is one child we could have saved,” said a second parent.

For over an hour, superintendent Daniel Unertl went over the infection rates, hospital capacity and pointed out that Oak Creek was in a different place than it was just a few weeks ago when the school board voted for a traditional opening. The infection rate in Oak Creek was now at 9.6%, much higher than the 5% recommended for a regular, in-person school.

Unertl recommended that the district open virtually, examine the numbers after four weeks, and if everything looked good, they could start opening two weeks later.

The board modified his recommendation to start the four-week clock right away, which would allow the schools to open two weeks earlier. But unless the infection rate magically drops five points overnight, it is doubtful the district can open its doors within a month after the beginning of school.

Even when schools open, Unertl recommended that they use a hybrid model, with students attending only two days a week, some on Monday/Tuesday, others on Thursday/Friday in order to cut the number of students in half on any one day.

The worst-case scenario would be a dramatic, full-fledged opening only to be followed by another total shutdown after infections rise, he pointed out.

School board member June Eickhoff said she was worried about the emotional toll distance learning was taking on students. Frankly, the quality of virtual instruction in the spring wasn’t the best, she noted.

Unertl said he understood her concerns but stated that his staff spent much of the summer improving their virtual instruction skills, and it would be much better in the fall.

Unertl is concerned about staffing in other districts in the Milwaukee area. “I think we can have enough staff to open our doors, but once we open them, I don’t know how that proceeds.”

The district has lost a handful of teachers, and it is becoming harder to find replacements. Finding substitute teachers may get increasingly difficult.

What the board and the superintendent didn’t address was what school would look like if and when the buildings are open. Will there be temperature checks? Single-direction hallways? Six-foot distancing in the classrooms?

Some of those questions might be answered in the day-to-day operations plans. None of those questions were raised by the school board as it made its decision. The board was just trying to get through the opening of school; other issues may follow.

While one district official acknowledged the grading system used by WEAC to evaluate Oak Creek Franklin, she stated that the grade played no part in the district’s decision-making; it was all about the data and numbers.

This story was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner. For more stories from the Wisconsin Examiner, visit WisconsinExaminer.com.