GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – School districts from all over Brown County met Monday with community leaders to discuss plans to reopen schools safely.
Supt. Damian LaCroix of Howard-Suamico schools tells FOX 11 the collaboration is needed.
“We really believe that there’s a collective wisdom in the group so we really have the healthcare systems present, we had business leaders, we had Chamber of Commerce members, and then of course the Brown County school districts.”
While there are many challenges, one of the biggest is transportation. According to CDC guidelines, buses would need to cut their capacity from around 70 to about 13 kids per bus.
Eric Vanden Heuvel, VP of talent and education for the Greater Green Bay Chamber tells FOX 11…
“That just presents huge, huge challenges for every district who transports kids by bus.”
Community leaders say there are a few things to keep in mind when coming up with a plan.
“How do we, number one, how do we protect people? Number two, how do we create spaces? Number three, how to create policies that support these two? And then I think key, the fourth one is communication,” says Randy Van Straten, VP of business and community health for Bellin Health.
No decisions have been made yet, but Van Starten tells FOX 11 people can expect more collaboration between leaders in the future.
“That’s what I love about this community is the collaborative efforts in working with public health, with school systems, and health systems all coming together.”
“We represent different communities, different school districts spanning from rural to suburban to urban, small, medium, and large and so where we can it’s essential that we have standardization around best practices from a safety, health, and wellness standpoint,” LaCroix says.
Community leaders are hoping to have a first draft of a plan for reopening in the middle of July.
