Instruction method will be in place through semester
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
After hashing over a range of options, Waterford Union High School officials last week decided to stay with a hybrid instructional model through the rest of the semester.
WUHS officials kicked off the 2020-21 school year in September with a hybrid model, but reverted to full in-person instruction a short time later. As confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred, however, officials switched back to the hybrid model.
At a meeting Oct. 26, District Administrator Luke Francois and WUHS Principal Dan Foster presented the School Board with the recommendation of staying with the hybrid model through at least Jan. 22.
The administrators’ request was approved by the board on a 4-1 vote, with President Don Engler casting the dissenting vote.
From an instructional standpoint, WUHS officials agreed full, five-day, in-person instruction would be optimal.
But one of the key components of COVID-19 safety protocol — social distancing — is next to impossible when all students are present within most areas of WUHS, officials say. Students inevitably pass from one class to the next by virtue of the format of high school instruction.
During the discussion, Foster said the administrative recommendation is based, in part, on data from the Central Racine County Health Department.
“It’s been a gradual climb,” Foster said of positive COVID-19 cases in the western portion of Racine County. “It’s been an upward trend, for the most part, since resuming classes.”
When WUHS transitioned from the hybrid model to full in-person instruction earlier this fall, Foster said there were “12 active cases in the building.” The confirmed cases resulted in 274 people within the high school having to quarantine because they were in close contact with infected individuals.
“We could not physically distance,” Foster said. “We said that from the start. There’s no way we could do it.”
As of Monday’s meeting, Foster indicated the situation within WUHS was stabilizing. He said 15 people within the school were self quarantining, and all but one were doing so because someone at home had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Francois said he goal, moving forward, is to be as proactive as possible and have WUHS be an active player in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
“There is a stated effort to try and stay ahead of this,” Francois said.
While the full virtual method that was in use from mid-March through the end of the 2019-20 school year would be the safest method to clamp down on the spread of the coronavirus, there has been little support for that method.
Francois and Foster said students, staff and parents have been supportive for at least a limited amount of in-person instruction.
Thirty days into the start of the new school year, Francois said the three groups were asked to respond to a survey. Another survey at the 90-day mark in December also is planned to get a sense of how the district could proceed for the duration of the school year.
Speaking to the 30-day survey, Francois said there were a number of themes that cropped up. For example, students, he said, “felt connected to their peers” by returning to school.
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