MONROE — To reflect the state’s recent move to a five-tier system of determining COVID-19 activity, the School District of Monroe Board of Education made changes to the district’s reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year. 

“We wanted to represent the change in levels in the reopening plan,” District Administrator Rick Waski said at the Nov. 23 BOE meeting.

The updated plan also takes into account different community factors that will be taking into consideration when switching between learning plans.

All schools in the district have been fully virtual since Nov. 16 with a tentative plan to return to a hybrid form of learning the week of Dec. 7.

With the changes in place, the school district will return to and remain in the hybrid form of learning when the county is in the “high” or “very high” category. If the county falls to a “medium” or “low” activity level, schooling will return to fully in-person. The district has not been fully in-person since March.

Previously, students were to return to fully in-person learning only if the county were to reach the “low” activity level. The update to allow students back in person when the county is in the “medium” activity level reflects the additional levels.

Plan C, or fully virtual, will be in place if Green County falls into the critically high activity level. If the county is in the very high activity level, the school district will consider additional factors should the need to switch to virtual learning arise. 

Considerations 

Burden, also defined as case rate, is the total number of cases a county or region has per 100,000 Wisconsin residents in the past two weeks, and is described as low, moderate, moderately high, or high.

Trajectory, also defined as case change, refers to the percent change of cases in the past two weeks, and is described as shrinking, growing or having no significant change or movement.

If the county’s burden level is at 750 or above, active cases in the county exceed 150 and show an increasing trend for at least five days, the active cases in the district increase for greater than five days or the district is unable to fully staff buildings due to staff quarantines, the district will move to fully virtual learning.

As of the morning of Nov. 25, Green County was the only county in the state to be in the “very high” activity level. Every other county, as well as the state as a whole, is in the “critically high” category.

— Kat Cisar contributed to reporting