September 25, 2020
Over the past few weeks we have addressed the needs of both students and staff within our school district that have tested positive for COVID-19. In each of these situations, we worked collaboratively with the Oconto County Health Dept to address the needs of the individual that tested positive, and also identified any students or staff that were determined to be close contacts with the individual that tested positive. Once close contacts were identified, we contacted those families that were directly affected. In an effort to allow all of our families to stay informed related to new positive cases, please refer to the following LINK on our district webpage which will be updated each Wednesday. The totals in the student columns will be added in the next few days to include data from today. We will not be sending communications out to families each time we experience a positive case within our school district. Instead, we will update this site weekly which will allow families to be aware of any new cases. Please note that this data is general in nature as to protect the confidential nature of this information.
As a school district, we continue to implement measures to mitigate the spread of this virus. These actions include social distancing, good hand hygiene, and wearing face coverings. You can assist us by incorporating the same strategies at home. To support you in your efforts we are including guidance in our Student Decision Tree, if your child is exhibiting any symptoms please follow the decision tree and refrain from sending them to school. Your thoughtfulness and assistance is greatly appreciated as together we can more effectively control the spread of COVID-19.
It is important to note that yesterday the Governor of Wisconsin took action to declare a public health emergency Executive Order #90 . In response to this public health emergency, the Governor has also extended the face covering requirement to November 21, 2020 Emergency Order #1. Please note that our school district implemented a face covering requirement prior to the original state order which means that if the state order sunsets in the future, the face covering requirement will still be in place for all students, staff, and visitors until the Oconto Falls Board of Education would take action to rescind this expectation.
Dean Hess
Superintendent of Schools