SHAWANO, WI- The Shawano School Board held their first of what may be many discussions on what steps need to be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the district opens facilities for summer workouts and practices, in preparation for the fall.
Outdoor workouts and practices were able to be held with limited numbers at a time to ensure social distancing.
Starting July 20th, indoor workout and practices will be allowed with the same social distancing and capacity limits.
Activities Director Joel Wondra presented a four-reopening guidelines document and in that document was a section for mask use.
The document states that cloth face coverings must be worn by students during Higher or Moderate risk levels unless someone is medically prevented from doing so. It also states that cloth face coverings may continue to be used during the Lower and Lowest risk levels and during Moderate, Lower, or Lowest risk levels, masks may be removed when engaging in aerobically demanding activity.
Wondra, while wearing a mask himself, told the board that the guidelines were created with guidance and recommendations from multiple health agencies along with the WIAA.
“Studies are showing that kids are in one of the worst mental-health states that they have been in for a long time,” Wondra says.
He says while there is not a direct correlation to lack of sports activity, getting the kids out there in that setting again would only help. He says the plan allows the student-athletes to do that safely.
“My concerns are the useless limitations, masks are useless,” School Board member Mart Grams said. “All we are doing is placing fear in the children, let them play, stop the social distancing crap. We have already harmed children enough by closing schools, we have ruined their parents, it is time to end the joke, it’s over.”
“I go back to the fact that this plan is using guidelines from all of our resources,” Wondra responded. “This is not the Joel Wondra plan. Unless this body says we need to do something different, I am not going to overturn the work that was done by our team and health professionals.”
Board member Michael Sleeper quickly disagreed with Grams.
“If there was a soccer game tonight that I was officiating, I would be wearing a mask and using an electronic whistle. All we have to do is look at the southern tier states across our country on what happens with carelessness. I do not want that here,” Sleeper said. “I do not want us to play Russian Rollute, and that is what we are doing here.” I agree we need to get back to school and practice, but we need to take the proper precautions.”
Grams asked Sleeper how long he felt the district would need to keep these procedures in place.
“When I see the billions of dollars that go into professional sports and what they have to lose, and they are struggling, that is really telling,” Sleeper said.
The guidelines state that coaches would structure practices to limit close contact and keep student-athletes with the same small group of people or pods while they practice throughout the summer. Coaches will also have all participants sign a waiver form and will also develop a heat acclimatization plan.
Wondra also confirmed with the board that he will be the point of contact for COVID-19 issues.”
The plan that was presented also states that if coaches or student-athletes travel to hot-spots or if they participate or attend large group gatherings such as flea markets, concerts, races or fairs, they will be required to wear a mask for 14 days even if the county is identified as Lower or Lowest Risk status.
“Your plan would punish an athlete,” Grams stated.
Wondra said he did not look at it as punishing an athlete and said he sees it unlikely that they would find themselves in a Low or Lowest risk area by the time the fair comes around.
Superintendent Randi Anderson said it comes down to safety.
“The safety of our students and staff is our utmost priority as we continue to move forward with this process. We want to have people back in our building, but it is very important that we do everything we can to mitigate that risk.”
“When we think about September and the first week of school and the Shawano County Fair happening, I have to go back to my students and my staff that who going to be working in this building, hopefully with our students in place, and figure out how we can best mitigate that risk,” Anderson said.
Grams asked what the consequences are. “What if I say no, no I am not wearing a mask?”
Anderson said that has not been put in place yet.
“In doing this, we have said anybody who attends the fair, we strongly recommend that you wear a mask. If you choose not to wear a mask, we will have to look at what those consequences are for an employee or for a student, but we have not gotten to those details yet. If we are attending a large event, we need to mask. I do want to be on the cutting edge. I want to be the district that is able to mitigate the risks to our students and staff and keep us in play and keep us from not having to go to a virtual environment. To do that, we have to keep our case numbers down and we have to think about everyone in play. Right now, as the way we have it written, if you attend a large gathering or travel to a hotbed area, you would be required to wear a mask for 14 days when you come back.”
Board member Chris Gull said he did not like the idea of making masks a requirement.
“I hope we are not doing that,” Gull said. “I don’t want us infringing on people’s rights.”
Diane Hoffman said her concern is how well can it be enforced.
“It needs to be black and white, and this has a lot of greys. I have a hard time with us trying to enforce something outside of a school setting that we do have a chance to monitor. You are asking people to self-report.”
Alyssa Pilsbury said she was concerned about the tattle-tale issues that will come if people are spotted a large event without a mask.
Michael Sleeper said it is about protecting people around you.
“We hear people say if I want to get sloshed and drive, it’s on me. But it is not just them, it’s the three people around them. If I want to go to a hot-bed area and stand shoulder to shoulder with people and came back to Shawano County, with this activity rate, is that any different than driving drunk?”
According to Wondra, this plan is specific to athletes for summer workouts only. He says those workouts are not required to attend and his coaches were notified that a student’s participation level should not be a basis for team selection or position selection moving forward to the fall.
Chuck Dallas helped settle the discussion by saying this might not be the best time to make any decisions.
“If we learned anything through this process, it is that the more time, the more we know. Instead of debating this on July 6th, shouldn’t we just wait to see what things are looking like before the fair comes and we will have a better feel of the situation that will likely change by then.”
School Board President Tyler Schmidt recommended that the district try the plan as presented for the first two weeks of summer workout availability and look at again and make adjustments as needed.
“Who knows, maybe the WIAA will come out and say that what they recommend for mask use and procedures are not working, we won’t know, but to just throw this plan away without at least trying it is irresponsible.”
The district did not make any changes to the plan as presented and will look at it again next meeting.
Superintended Anderson once again stated that the document is a working document and will be modified as needed.
Shawano School District COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines for School Sponsored Athletic Programs
-Shawano Activities Director will act as COVID-19 Coordinator. Coaches will provide a list of participants and will screen all participants.
- School Sponsored teams will not host any leagues, tournaments or youth camps.
- Carpooling for participants that do not live in the same household is discouraged.
- Spectators or parents are not allowed at practice and should stay in their vehicles for pick-ups.
- Individuals should bring their own hydration supplies, and coaches will make hand sanitizer available.
- Water fountains will remain closed, individuals should bring their own snacks and should not consume spit-able foods like sunflower seeds or peanuts.
- Locker rooms and showers will not be provided.
- Participants are encouraged to sneeze or cough into a tissue or the inside of their elbow, avoid touching their face and avoid high-fives, handshakes and fist bumps.
- Individuals should not attend if they exhibit any symptoms associated with COVID-19. And anyone who becomes sick or tests positive for COVID-19 should notify their coach and the Activities Director right away.
- Coaches or athletes who travel outside of Shawano, particularly to areas with high case numbers, or who gather in large groups such as flea markets, car races, music in the park, fairs, concerts, watermarks, etc, must wear a face mask during Lower Risk periods.
CURRENT DRAFT_ COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines- School Sponsored Athletic Programs
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