Cadott School Board; Test-to-stay option offers more flexibility for families
By Julia Wolf
The Cadott School Board approved a test-to-stay option for students and staff members, during a regular meeting Dec. 13.
The option will be available for asymptomatic, close contacts. Superintendent Jenny Starck says the addition to the district’s COVID plan is not necessarily Department of Health Services (DHS) approved, though other districts are doing it.
Under the option, students or staff who are a close contact of a COVID-positive person would not be required to quarantine if they are asymptomatic, willing to be tested with a rapid antigen test every 48 hours, with school staff, through day seven, and wear a mask while at school.
“If at any point, that person would start to exhibit symptoms or have a positive test, or is not masking, they would follow the typical COVID quarantine protocols that we had all along,” said Starck.
Starck says there are parent consent forms for families who wish their student to participate in the option. The consent form would be valid for that student through the end of the school year, unless revoked.
Parents also must register their student at register.covidconnect. wi.gov, if they want their student to participate, since that is where school nurse Jessica Hager enters the tests.
Starck says Hager believes she can handle the workload associated with the option.
“The only thing that we don’t have yet, if this were to pass tonight, is actually the rapid tests,” said Starck.
Starck says the tests are expected to arrive within a short time.
“We do know that this isn’t going to be the magic answer, just because some parents won’t want their child tested or some parents maybe won’t want their child to wear a mask,” said Starck.
Starck says no one has to participate in the option, however, it would provide everyone with another option.
Board member Becca Blanchette asked what happens in the case of extracurriculars. Starck says they would follow the same protocol, as long as they are asymptomatic.
Starck noted there would not be a change for those who are vaccinated, since they already do not need to quarantine.
Al Sonnentag, board president, asked if the consent forms will be sent out to everyone, or distributed as needed to close contacts. Starck says they plan to send them out when the situation arises, because they do not want to confuse people.
Blanchette also asked if public health is aware of the plan, to avoid families getting mixed messages. Starck says the department is tied into the communication and when Hager sends the list of close contacts, she will note those who are participating in the test to stay option.
Board member Ced Boettcher also asked what the cost of the option is for the district. Starck says the testing is DPI supported, so it should not be a cost for the district right now.
Later in the meeting, board members approved the addition of the option to the tiered COVID protocol plan, once the tests become available.
Board members also discussed progress and goal setting, when it comes to the DPI report card scores. The district ranked in the “exceeded expectations” category, as did all three schools in the district.
Starck says there is no scientific way to set new goals, since so many things are taken into consideration, as part of the score. She says she averaged the growth over previous years, to come to the recommendation of a new goal for a 1.3 point growth, which would bring the district score to 76.1.
“The higher it gets, the harder it gets to keep moving up,” said Starck.
Members approved the recommended goal for a 1.3 point increase to the district-wide score.
Sonnentag also wondered if they should have a separate goal for student achievement, even if the goal was set at the administrative level and not included on the annual goals. Others agreed that would be a good idea and will work on goal-setting for that element at the next Committee of the Whole meeting.
