GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A Green Bay Southwest High School student, who was told to quarantine, showed up to school anyway and refused to leave on Thursday.
It’s the first time the school district encountered a situation like this.
“Our goal is always to work with students and their parents to make sure that we have them and the rest of the students in the safest possible environment,” said Stephen Murley, the superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public School District.
“We just felt we had to make a stand,” said Heidi Peed, the mother of the student, a junior at Southwest.
Peed tells FOX 11 her daughter, Rachel, showed up to her first class on Thursday, despite the district telling her she’d been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person at a volleyball match last week.
“The teacher there said that she had to leave because she’s on the quarantine list. Rachel stood up and fought for her rights and said I’m not going to quarantine, I’m healthy, you don’t quarantine healthy individuals. I’m COVID recovered, I have a strong, robust immunity. I have a right to my education.”
Rachel was sent to the office where the principal then told her to leave. Her mother was then called in.
“I pretty much gave the same spiel,” said Peed. “He asked me to leave and I refused.”
An agreement was reached that Rachel could stay in an isolation room and learn as she would at home, listening to her classes on Zoom.
Murley tells FOX 11 the move is protocol.
“Each school has an isolation space, so if students are in school and for instance if they’ve tested positive and they should be isolating then there’s an opportunity for us to ensure that they are in a safe space, but not in contact with their fellow students.”
A similar situation recently happened in Eau Claire when a high school freshman showed up to school even though she was told to quarantine. She also refused to leave.
Peed says her family contacted that girl’s family before making the decision to return their daughter back to school.
“These COVID-recovered students should not be treated any differently than the vaccinated students.”
Peed says her daughter has antibody tests as proof she had COVID this summer. She says even before her daughter was determined to be a close contact, she was fighting with the district to change its quarantine policy.
“We feel it’s discriminatory toward against the unvaccinated students,” said Peed.
“We’re in a pandemic,” said Murley. “We hope people realize that the board adopted a quarantine and isolation process to ensure that we can keep as many of our children in school for as long as we can. That requires a collective effort.”
In the Eau Claire case, a court order was obtained to force the girl back to her home to quarantine.
FOX 11 asked Murley if Green Bay would consider a court order for someone refusing to stay at home in quarantine.
“We haven’t been faced with that situation,” said Murley.
Peed says she and others will keep pushing for change, while encouraging others to take a stand like her daughter did.
Health officials strongly recommend people follow proper quarantine guidelines.
On its website, the district says its quarantine and isolation protocol follows CDC guidelines.
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