You may still have to wear a mask on Monday if you are a Gibraltar student or staff member.

Superintendent Tina Van Meer announced on Thursday that K-12 staff members and K-6 students would still be required to mask up despite the school board voting to lift the mandate at its last meeting. The board also directed the district to do what was necessary to keep in-person learning uninterrupted.  In her letter to parents and staff, Van Meer announced that eight students and two employees had tested positive for COVID-19 since the holiday break started and suggested that the number could be even higher.

She also pointed out that the Door County COVID-19 Situation Update has the area at a critically high level of disease activity. Less than a quarter of kids between the ages of 5-11 have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine series.

Masking became optional for Gibraltar students in grades 7-12 in class and participating in extracurricular activities before the holiday break and they will be strongly encouraged to wear a face-covering when they come back from break. 

You can read the full letter below:

Good afternoon,

I am writing to inform you of an important announcement regarding mandatory masking in the Gibraltar Area School District.

Door County's COVID-19 Situation Update for Dec. 30 shows Door County at the "Critically High" level of disease activity. In addition, the hospital capacity rates for the Northeast Region has exceeded 89%. Although the vaccination rate for Door County is 76.9%, the majority of vaccinated people are over the age of 18. 96.2% of people over 65 are vaccinated. While 61.1% of children ages 12 to 17 are vaccinated, only 24.5% of children ages 5 to 11 are vaccinated. 3 out of 4 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have not received a first dose of vaccine. 1 in 4 children between the ages of 12 and 17 has not received the first dose of the vaccine. Due to the nature of our school organization and the emerging characteristics of the Omicron variant, the vaccination rate of children ages 5 to 11 is a major concern.

As of December 30, the District has had 8 students and 2 employees test positive for COVID-19 during the holidays. This number only includes those who have informed me directly. The actual number of positive cases could be considerably higher. As the number of positive cases continues to grow each day in our District, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the number of staff required to ensure in-person learning. The Board of Education has directed the District to keep continuous and uninterrupted teaching and learning a priority. As such, the Superintendent has been given the authority to take all necessary steps to ensure the continuation of in-person learning.

Given all of this information, I have made the decision to continue mandatory masking for children in grades K-6 until further notice. In an attempt to maintain staffing levels that ensure continuous and uninterrupted instruction, all employees (K-12) must also wear a mask. All students and employees riding the school bus or other means of transportation provided by the District must also wear a mask. Given the 61.1% vaccination rate, children in grades 7-12 are "strongly encouraged" to wear masks, but will not be required at this time. Additionally, optional masking will remain in place for 7-12 extracurricular events and activities. I will carefully monitor the number of positive cases at the secondary level and make necessary adjustments to ensure continuous and uninterrupted teaching and learning.

Sincerely,

Tina Van Meer