GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Students in Green Bay schools will be going back to the classroom.
School board members voted Monday night to start the return March 1.
For the Green Bay school board, president Eric Vanden Heuvel says defining safety has been a struggle throughout.
“The definition of safety is very personal and individual to each of us. I think that one of the challenges that we’ve had as a board this entire time is to figure out what that looks like because everyone on the board has their own opinion,” Vanden Heuvel said.
He says he and the board had safety in mind when making decisions at Monday’s meeting.
“I wouldn’t have made the decision that I did and I think as a board making the decision that we did if we didn’t feel like it wasn’t going to be safe,” Vanden Heuvel said.
One teacher in the district is frustrated with the decision.
“The district came with a plan and then changed that plan again, and I’m also very uncomfortable with the fact that I do not believe that people that want their students back in school really understand what school is going to look like,” Green Bay school teacher Joe McCabe said.
As a music teacher, McCabe says there are additional obstacles to teaching classes in person again.
“Currently virtually I get to work with my kids everyday. As a band director, I get to teach those students to play their instruments during our class. When we return, I’m not going to have that opportunity because playing an instrument in school is going to cause an issue that may increase the chance of spreading the disease,” McCabe said.
McCabe says the safety committee within the district made that decision.
Vanden Heuvel says reopening won’t be without its challenges.
“Certainly trying to start up the operations of a district with 20,000 students, 4,000 staff members, it’s going to take some time,” Vanden Heuvel said.
While the district says the return to school might not be perfect, they say that they’ll be ready.
Mitigation strategies include making Wednesdays virtual learning days.
Students and staff will be required to wear masks at all times.
“I feel confident in our ability from a PPE, from a cleaning, from other mitigation strategies that we’re going to be able to implement all of those things and we have resources, spent resources and have additional funds to continue to find safe ways to do that,” Vanden Heuvel said.
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