Your child’s school year could look as normal as it has since before the pandemic, thanks to new guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control last week. The CDC released its latest recommendations last Thursday before many schools across the country open their doors to students. Most schools in Wisconsin will not open their doors to students until September 1st due to state law. It acknowledges the ongoing pandemic but points out that approximately 95 percent of the population have either had COVID-19 or have been vaccinated against it. The updated document removed many recommendations, such as quarantining after exposure to the virus except in high-risk settings. Also gone is the rule that unvaccinated students exposed to the coronavirus should test for COVID-19 to stay in school, even if they do not have symptoms. They are now recommended to mask up if they have been exposed. Sevastopol Superintendent Kyle Luedtke says he will recommend to the board when they meet on August 24th to adopt many of the standards set forth by the CDC. That means only the students that become infected with COVID-19 will be forced to quarantine for five calendar days before they can return to class with a mask on for another five calendar days. Masking will be optional whether they are deemed a close contact or not.

Southern Door (August 15th), Luxemburg-Casco (August 17th),  and Algoma (August 22nd) and their school boards were also scheduled this month to discuss their COVID-19 mitigation strategies for the upcoming school year.