Students at Gibraltar Area Schools will return to virtual learning when their school year begins next week. According to a letter sent by Superintendent Tina Van Meer on Friday, committing to remote learning will allow teachers and students to prepare and practice for virtual instruction. At its school board meeting last week, Gibraltar did loosen its threshold plan to allow in-person learning to take place at the medium and medium-high COVID-19 activity levels according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services standards. If there are 28 or less new cases of COVID-19 over a two week time period, students could have in-person instruction as soon as September 14th. That decision will be made on September 9th, though students will still be counted as present if they log in online or participate in the district’s backpack exchange program. Van Meer could not be reached for comment. Algoma started school on Monday while Sturgeon Bay, Luxemburg-Casco, Southern Door, and Washington Island begin their school years in person on Tuesday. Sevastopol has been in their phased-in approach to the school year since last Monday.

Pictured courtesy of Gibraltar Area Schools