Neillsville District Administrator Discusses Changes to District's Calendar

Monday, January 25th, 2021 -- 3:00 PM

In order to help combat the coronavirus and keep students in school, the Neillsville School Board has been approving their calendar and operational plan on a monthly basis.

At a school board meeting on Monday, the board approved the February calendar and a change in the schedule for students.  I spoke with Neillsville District Administrator John Gaier and he explained the changes in more detail.

Mr. Gaier:  “The biggest change, clearly, is that we will be bringing our grades 7-12 kids back to school 4 days a week starting on January 25th.  And they’ll attend Monday-Thursday and that Friday will be a “remote practice day” and also a “teacher day” that allows them to reach out to our kids that continue to be remote learners and to do outreach for those kids and make preparations for the next week.”

“The reason that it was decided to go 4 days a week instead of 5 really depended on the remote learners that we are trying to serve.  We do still have a number of kids that will be remote learners that are doing it through our district."

"For us to be able to do that, it’s important that we have that Friday to do that outreach and also to do that prep work for those remote learners for the next week.  So, that was the decision.  We’re excited to have kids back 4 days a week, but that was one of the biggest changes that we will start starting January 25th, which is also the start of the 2nd semester.”

“Another thing that is important for people to know is that Open Campus for high school will be started again.  The High School Principal, Craig Anderson, will be reaching out to his students to let them know how that will all work."

But we think it’s safer, actually, to have kids be able to leave the building, if they want to, rather than being unmasked and eating here.  So, it lowers the numbers here and allows us to socially distance more during those lunch times, which we think is vitally important.”

“We will still be limiting access to the building to essential folks only.  We think that keeps our kids safer and, again, it is all about keeping our kids safe in this environment."

"With the new mask order by the governor, we will still require masks while indoors.  We think that’s an important safety measure in order for us to stay open.  So that is key for us as well.”

“We’ll, also, be going back to an 8 period day instead of the current 7 period day that we are working with for grades 7th-12th.  So, that will be reported out to our families and our students in grades 7-12, so those 2nd semester schedules will be made on an 8 period day."

We will also have parent-teacher conferences held virtually, again, starting in February.  So, important for parents to know that we will be reaching out to them remotely to give updates on how their kids are doing and allow parents and teachers to talk about the progress of their students.”

“The last part, that I think is important to know, is the district has approved starting to slowly reopen the building to outside use after hours.  So, I will be working with the Rec Department to make sure that plans can be in place for people to start using the facility again, at least on a limited basis for walking and doing some other things for recreation.  So, we’ll continue to work on that as well.”

“So, those are the biggest changes in that operational plan and we’re just excited that we can start reopening more and more each month.”

Question:  “In regards to the schedule, how was that decision reached?”

Mr. Gaier:  “The reason that we delayed reopening to 4 days a week for everybody early in January was because of the fear of that post Christmas break surge that people thought might happen because of people traveling and getting together."

"But the numbers did not bare that out.  In fact, the numbers right now in Clark County are very, very good.  The number of hospitalizations is way down.  The number of active cases is way down.  We currently have no positive students or staff members in Neillsville, at this point, in the school district.  And so that led us to believe that it is safe to bring those kids back 4 days a week.”

“It is that kind of information that we use to make these types of decisions.  We look really locally at our maps to make sure that there are no surges in our area.  There have not been, so we are excited to get people back.”

“The other thing that I think is really important is that we’ve had the cooperation of parents in keeping their kids home when they need to stay home; of reporting to us when there’s any suspectful contamination or them potentially being exposed to the virus.  So, those things are all very important and the reasons that we’re able to reopen.”

Question:  “Overall, how have students and staff adjusted to the schedule, mask wearing, etc.?”

Mr. Gaier:  “The students have been great.  And that’s another reason that we think that we can reopen safely.  The kids have cooperated with wearing masks.  It is just a part of what we do now."

"The staff has been very good about monitoring that and modeling that.  And that is just another reason that we think it’s safe to try 4 days a week at this point.”

Question:  “In regards to support, how is that going and are the rules for spectators the same?”

Mr. Gaier:  “Sports in general have gone pretty well.  For us anyway.  We have had to lose a couple games or matches because other schools have had to cancel due to exposure on their end.  But that has not happened much here, so we’re happy about that."

"The spectator policy, though, will stay the same, at least through February.  And the reason for that is we just have to come to grips with the fact that this is about giving kids opportunities and not risking them to exposure.  So, we hope that adults understand that that is the reason that we have these restrictive spectator policies in place.”

“We want to make sure that we keep the kids as safe as possible and be able to provide them the opportunity to participate.  So, that is really what is important to use at this point and I hope that’s what's important to the adults as well.  At some point, we’ll get back to normal."

We don’t know if that’s going to be sooner or later.  With the vaccine out, with the numbers being down, with people managing this whole virus and safety protocols as well."

"We hope it’s sooner rather than later, but, again, it’s about keeping the kids safe and making sure they have the opportunity.  And hopefully adults are willing to sacrifice a little bit to make sure they can do that.”

Questions:  “Final thoughts, anything else?”

Mr. Gaier:  “Just thanks to everybody for the cooperation that they’ve been giving us.  Please understand that the school district has tried to implement policies to make sure everybody stays safe and still be able to serve our kids as well as we possibly can."

"We’re excited about expanding those opportunities now starting on January 25th.  But, please note, that our mission has been, always, to serve the kids and keep them as safe as possible as well as keeping the community safe and being a good partner in that."

"Just thanks to everybody for all their cooperation and we appreciate their partnerships.”

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