Neillsville District Administrator Discusses May Operational Plan, Calendar and More

Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM

-The Neillsville School Board approved the district’s Operational Plan and calendar for the Month of May.

There were few changes from the previous months’ plan.  The main item to note is that the district is still requiring masks by students, staff, and visitors.  I spoke with Neillsville District Administrator John Gaier and he explained May’s calendar and Operational Plan in more detail.

Mr. Gaier:  “There aren’t a lot of changes.  The weekly schedule will stay the same.  We’ll still be fully in person, Mondays-Thursdays, with Fridays as a home study and staff outreach day, especially for families that continue to choose to have their kids be virtual learners through the end of the year.”

"Our transportation plans will stay the same.  Face coverings will still be required there.  And that is actually required by the Public Transit System.  We have no say over that one.  That rule is still in place."

"Speaking of face coverings, even though the Governor's order was overruled by the State Supreme Court, based not on whether masks are safe or not, but whether the Governor had the right to extend the same order for an additional 60 days.”

“Even though the order was overruled, the Board did approve, after a lengthy discussion, face coverings to continue to be required for the month of May and potentially to the end of school in June."

"I know that there are differing opinions about that.  The majority of the Board felt it was still important to continue doing what we're doing and do all that we can to keep our kids safe.  And they believe that wearing masks would be helpful in doing that.  So, we will still be enforcing masks here at the school building."

“One of the things that, again, I want to let folks know is that 4K registration is happening right now for next year and that 4K will be continuing with 2 cohorts with a Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday all day cohort for 4K.  So, anyone interested in getting their children signed up for 4K can do that now.”

“Other than that, not a lot of changes to the plan itself.  The May calendar was approved and, please note, that on May 29th, we have our normal graduation scheduled.  It is scheduled to be an outdoor ceremony with limited guests.  We hope to have that on that day outdoors.  If we cannot have it outdoors, we will have limited spectators available to be witnessing graduation in the field house.”

“And also on the 31st, that is Memorial Day, where we take the time to honor those vets who have given their lives to protect our country.  So, that is what’s happening with the Operational Plan and Calendar for the month.”

Question:  “Neillsville is going to be having Summer School this year.  Can you talk about that?”

Mr. Gaier:  “We are taking registration for that as well.  The numbers continue to go up.  One of the things that we did at last night’s Board Meeting was approve the final online handbook for Summer School Course Offerings because we want to expand the offerings we have in Summer School, even for our older kids.”

“So, there are some online options for Summer School through the Rural Virtual Academy.  We hope that kids take advantage of that.  They can do some credit recovery.  They can do some credit acceleration in those courses.  Or they can take a course of just an interest for them for credit as well.”

“So, we strongly encourage that.  We will have all of our Summer School programs that we’ve had in the past.  The Board will be making a decision at their May Meeting, which will be held on May 17th if anyone is interested in watching or joining us, about whether we will be wearing masks during Summer School or not.  So, that will be a conversation as well as we get ready to move into June and the Summer School activities.”

Question: “Many parents I think are concerned about their child falling behind or experiencing ‘learning loss’ due to the strange year we’ve had because of COVID.  Can you provide your thoughts on that?”

Mr. Gaier:  “There is some concern about ‘learning loss’ during this time.  But I think what everybody needs to remember is that we are going through a pandemic.  And, what we’re trying to do, is keep everybody as safe as we possibly can and provide them the education that they need.  But everybody is going through this and it’s a challenging time.”

“The reason we’re expanding Summer School and trying to enhance our Summer School is to allow kids to get more exposure to the curriculum they want to have and some may need.  We’ll be strongly encouraging some to do that.  We’ll continue to be doing interventions all the way through the next school year as we do now with interventions for any kids that need extra help in their learning.”

“But I think it’s important to know that kids will be fine and kids will catch up for anything that they have possibly missed in this school year.  But the most important thing is to survive this pandemic and to do that without having emotional trauma.  That has been an important part of what we’ve tried to do is keep kids socially and emotionally supported during this whole COVID-19 problem and will continue to do that as well.”

“I think we’ve learned a lot.  Necessity is the mother of invention and I think our staff has learned a lot about how to use technology to reach students.  And even when we come back in-person, full-time next year, I think teachers will be using technology to a higher degree than they’ve had in the past.”

“And I think it’s important for everyone to know that, because of technology, learning doesn’t have to happen within the walls of a School Building.  Learning can happen anywhere.  And we want to try and guide that learning as much as we possibly can, while kids are here and even when they are not here.  I think we can enhance and excelerate learning for those that are interested in doing that.”

“But, I would worry a lot less about learning loss and just making sure kids are staying safe and both mentally and physically healthy as we get through this pandemic.  And there will be a lot of time to make sure these kids can be caught.”

Question:  “Open Enrollment is available for Wisconsin's School Districts right now.  Can you explain how Open Enrollment works?

Mr. Gaier:  “They can either contact us or they can go online to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and get an application to do that and we can certainly help them through that entire process if they have any questions.  So, don’t hesitate to call my office and ask any questions about that or to go online and take a look at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website and get an application there.  You can get an application in either place.”

Question:  “Anything else?”

Mr. Gaier:  “I do want to give some updates.  We had some great discussion about facility upgrades at the meeting.  We approved a lot of upgrades for new flooring.  We approved some upgrades for some water piping that needs to be done because the older pipes are being corroded.”

“And I think it’s important for people to understand that the Neillsville School District is operating in buildings that were built in 1954, in the 1960s, and 1974.  And even our newest additions are 21 years old!  And I give a lot of credit to our maintenance staff and staff for keeping our facilities so safe and healthy, even though the buildings are getting older.”

“Our School Board has done things to maintain things really well.  So, we’ve had some real discussions about that.  We’re also looking at doing some Wood Shop upgrades for dust collectors and ventilation there.  And they did approve the replacement of the Middle School Roof, which will be a significant process, but we are able to do that under our current budget.”

“One thing the board did do was approve a contract with Wendell Architects to develop some ideas about improving the front of the High School on the west side of the building to make it more attractive, to make it more welcoming, to make it more open as people come up to our High School building.  So, we did look at a couple of plans about doing that.  So, the board is interested in doing that.”

“We’ve also talked about how we would spend some of the targeted stimulus money that our school will be getting that will help with ventilation, and heating, and cooling.  And we are looking at potentially using a lot of that money to upgrade the Elementary heating and cooling system, as well as, the fresh air exchange system in the Elementary."

"Those will be more long term projects, but we’re looking at doing those things to continue to improve and enhance the building as well as an enhanced learning environment for our kids.”

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.