NORTHEAST WI, – The statewide masking mandate ending will likely not result in any immediate changes for area school districts. The State Supreme Court decided this week to end the Governor’s masking extension as of Wednesday. Students in area school districts continue to wear masks while in school, and that does not appear to be changing right away.
In Bonduel, students are going to remain masked for the rest of the school year, according to Superintendent Joe Dawidziak “We as a district decided to continue our own mask mandate regardless of what happened at the State level.”
In Gresham and in Clintonville, the school boards are expected to hold a discussion after the recent developments.
“This was discussed back in February when the Supreme Court was debating the first time,” Clintonville District Administrator David Dyb said. “Our school board basically said we would have face masking requirements in place until further notice,” Dyb says he does not know if that means a change in the near future for not and said while it will be up to the school board to decide, he has his own recommendation. “I don’t anticipate them changing anything because of that,” Dyb said. “That would be the direction I would hope we would go.”
In Gresham, Superindentent Newell Haffner says he is already planning on bringing it up at the next school board meeting. “There is no deadline on it or no ending date,” Haffner said. “I imagine what I will do is bring it up as a topic of discussion at the April 5th meeting. He said they will decide if they want to change anything or keep it in place for the rest of the school year.
Some schools, like Bonduel, plan to re-evaluate after the school year. “We had masking on there for summer school as well, but we decided to just table that discussion,” Dawidziak said they will decide between now and the end of the year on how to proceed with summer school.
Shawano School Superintendent Randi Anderson did not return our request for information on how she plans to proceed for her students and staff.
So far many local health departments are still saying it is best to keep masks on. Shawano-Menominee County Health Officer Terri Harmala said that is her advisory message.
Effective immediately, Shawano-Menominee Counties Public Health Department is issuing a Health Advisory which stipulates that every person age five (5) and older should wear a face covering or mask.
“Now more than ever, it’s important that we do not let our guard down. The sooner we reach our goal of vaccinating 80% of the community, the sooner we will be able to return to a life before COVID-19.”
As of March 25, 2021 – 25.6% (10,478) of Shawano County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. 15.7% (6,437) of residents have completed the vaccine series. We continue to work diligently with our medical professional partners throughout Shawano County to meet the demand for those who want the COVID19 Vaccine.
The Supreme Court ruling did not eliminate masks because they felt they were not effective or a violation of rights but ruled that the Governor went beyond his authority in extending his original masking mandate.
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