Edgar graduation will social distance
Edgar High School principal Tom McCarty last week Wednesday outlined for the Edgar Board of Education how commencement for the Class of 2020 will take place Friday, July 31, 7 p.m. with COVID-19 precautions.
The principal said graduating seniors will receive a short, in-person ceremony with plenty of social distancing, hand sanitizer and masks.
McCarty said the graduates will sit in chairs placed on the school football field or track. Guests, up to six per graduate, will sit in assigned areas in the high school football field bleachers. Both graduates and family members will be encouraged to wear masks while travelling to their seated locations.
District administrator Dr. Cari Guden and school board president Bill Dittman will hand out diplomas, said Mc-Carty, after they use hand sanitizer. There will be no shaking of hands during the event.
There will be no live band or choir performance at the graduation.
McCarty said the ceremony will be videotaped and broadcast live. A photographer will take pictures of graduates after receiving their diplomas.
Parents will be asked to leave the football stadium with their students and observe social distancing.
McCarty said the graduation protocols were reviewed by the Marathon County Health Department.
He said the ceremony will take place in the Edgar High School gymnasium in the event of inclement weather, but each graduate will only be able to have two guests for the inside event.
In other school board business:
_ It was reported that the Edgar Public School hot lunch program served 107,221 lunches and breakfasts during the 2019-20 school year. The program served fewer breakfasts but 5,000 more lunches than last year.
_ Administrator Guden requested a special meeting in late July or early August to discuss how to re-open school in the fall.
_ Elementary school principal Lisa Witt said summer school with 388 students is “going well” although enforcing social distancing among students is a challenge.
She said scheduling smaller classes has been valuable.
“It is difficult to keep the kids six feet apart,” she said. “The smaller classes have been good at 11 or 12 students.”
Witt told school board members that a handful of students wear masks in summer school.
Administrator Guden said social distancing of students was “very hard.” She noted that public education was all about socialization of students. “So this is the exact opposite,” she said.
_ Board members hired Heidi Olson as a middle school science teacher, Adam Decker as a K-12 physical education teacher and Lauren Fagen as a fourth grade intern. Olson was also contracted as a volleyball coach. Board members approved hiring Lisa Nowak as elementary school secretary effective Oct. 1.
_ Board members approved a coaching and advisory pay policy. In the policy, coaches and advisors will be paid a prorated stipend should a season be cancelled for any reason. Head coaches will be paid a minimum of 10 percent of their stipends because they have duties all school year.
_ Board members approved a list of fall coaches. They include as follows by sport: football, Jerry Sinz, head coach, Greg Streit, Troy Andreshak, Andrew Lukasko, Chris Trawicki and Zach Paul, assistant coaches, Nathan Dahl and John Peterlik, middle school coaches, and Adam Decker, volunteer assistant; volleyball: Courtney Neumann, head coach, Heidi Olson, junior varsity coach, junior varsity 2 coach, Kelly Rosenau, eighth grade coach, Andi English, seventh grade coach, Jody Davis, sixth grade coach, Kirstin Christiansen; cross country: Dennis Webb, head coach, Tom Normington, middle school coach, and Mandy Schnelle, volunteer assistant.
