Belvidere in-person learning plan fails to get board approval

Belvidere in-person learning plan fails to get board approval

October 19, 2020 8:29 pmBreane LygaCORONAVIRUS, TOP STORIES

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BELVIDERE (WREX) — A Belvidere School District plan for elementary school students and special education students to return to in-person learning fails to get the go-ahead Monday night at Belvidere's School District meeting.

The failed vote means Belvidere School District will continue to be the only district in the region where all students learn from home, except for some special education students.

Under the plan, introduced by Superintendent Dan Woestman, about 1,800 students would've returned to the classroom. Families would've had the ability to choose where their students learn.

Woestman's plan included mass testing of staff in November, when in-person classes would've begun. He said the board asked him last month for a plan to bring K-2 students back to the classroom. Since then, cases and positivity rates for the region climbed dramatically.

Board members teetered on the plan to bring students back into the classroom for most of the meeting. The idea was ultimately shut down as some board members cited the Boone County Health Department's guidance to avoid in-person learning.

Boone County currently only meets one of the three standards for in-person learning, which is testing turnaround. Additional concerns were about class sizing and the ability for social distancing at school.

The board members in favor of bringing students back to class said community COVID-19 metrics don't directly translate to schools. Belvidere schools are closed for in-person learning while Boone County has consistently reported the highest positivity rate in the region. Monday's 7-day rolling average was 14.2 percent.

Board members said parents should be able to choose how their child learns, citing difficulty working with a child at home and issues with child socialization versus isolation.

As the holidays approach, the board is unlikely to take up another plan to reintroduce in-person learning to the Belvidere School District.

Breane Lyga

Breane Lyga is the content manager at 13 WREX. She joined the team in 2015 as the 5, 6 and 10PM news producer after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She was 13 WREX’s assignment editor from 2017 to 2018.

Above is from:  https://wrex.com/2020/10/19/belvidere-in-person-learning-plan-fails-to-get-board-approval/