Sweating the details

Union Grove High School to host special meeting to finalize return plan

By Mike Ramczyk

Correspondent

The Aug. 10 Union Grove High School Board meeting saw roughly 40 spectators, including a group of people advocating for every day, in-person instruction at the school – a physical impossibility according to District Administrator Allan Mollerskov under current health guidelines.

Since the high school has 1,000 students, there simply isn’t enough square footage for having every student in-person every day under 6-foot social distancing guidelines, according to Mollerskov. So the School Board is still leaning toward a split model, which splits students into two groups – A and B – and provides all students five classroom days in a 10-day span.

However, nothing was officially decided Aug. 10 night, so the School Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 6 p.m. The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded here: AGENDA

Mollerskov said the following options are listed in administrative preference, and the board will be sending a survey to parents:

• Hybrid plan, otherwise called A Day/B Day. In this plan students will attend school every other day and on the other day they will have virtual assignments from the teacher. This will allow UGUHS to have around 500 students in the building each day and class sizes of 13-16 in most classes. In this model the school can provide six feet of social distancing for the longer periods of time. Face masks will be required. Students can return to regular five-day in-person instruction when the Racine County Health Department lowers the risk of COVID 19 from high to moderate. Other schools in the Southern Lakes Conference that are currently looking at this model include Burlington.
• Four days per week of in-person instruction, with Wednesday being off for virtual instruction. In this plan there may only be 3 feet of social distancing for prolonged periods of time. Face masks will be required. It does keep the school in the virtual mode, just in case it has to return to all-virtual instruction model. Other schools in the SLC that are currently looking at this model are: Westosha and Wilmot.
• Five days per week of in-person instruction. This is similar to the previous plan, but without keeping students in the virtual mode one day per week. Face masks will be required. Other schools in the SLC that are currently looking at this model are: Lake Geneva Badger and Elkhorn.
• All virtual instruction, which is not being recommended by any school in the Southern Lakes Conference.

Meeting presents community conflict

Mollerskov said there was plenty of opposition and conflict among options at the Aug. 10 meeting, which was well-attended.

“Once the Board of Education gives the approval for one of the above plans, we will communicate it to the parents,” Mollerskov said. “There were about 40 people in attendance at the meeting and another 40 people listening on a Zoom broadcast (which did have some glitches during the broadcast). Most in attendance had been organized through Facebook sessions and spoke primarily in favor of five days of face-to-face instruction. There were three teachers in attendance who spoke in support of the administration-recommended hybrid model.”

Teachers prefer hybrid

Mollerskov says most teachers approve and feel the safest with the hybrid plan, which is temporary until the coronavirus threat wanes, based on the Central Racine County Health Department’s recommendation.

High school officials are striving to improve safety measures on a daily basis.

“We will have tubs of sanitizing wipes for the desks and will expect students to wipe down their desk whenever they enter a new classroom for that class period,” Mollerskov said. “We will also have hand sanitizer in each classroom and throughout the hallways.

“We have added 360 Sprayer equipment for nightly sanitizing of the classrooms. We have added numerous no-contact forehead thermometers. Other items that have been added are: Ultraviolet Sterilization Wand, an Ozone Generator to be used during the evening in those rooms that have been occupied by someone that has tested positive. During the rest of the time it will be rotated through classrooms.

“To date the district has invested over $413,000 toward items to provide more safety within the building.”

With nearly a half a million dollars invested in safety, UGHS wants to hear from parents and provide the most effective school experience possible, according to Mollerskov.

“We will be sending out a fact sheet, along with an electronic survey this week,” Mollerskov said. “The deadline for returning (was) Monday. But, we are hoping to receive them before that time. Once families receive the fact sheet and survey we will encourage them to either call the school, or email one of the administrators with questions they are unclear about in the above four plans.”