MILWAUKEE- Most school districts across Wisconsin have welcomed back students, or are in the process of welcoming back students, to in-person learning, despite young students not being eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine yet.
Menomonee Falls Superintendent Corey Golla tells WTMJ’s John Mercure the year’s been quite the learning experience for students, parents, faculty, and staff.
“We started our year hybrid and it was critical we referred to our parents and our teachers to have that partnership and to have them understand what we are trying to accomplish with our students,” Golla said. “We think we’ve raised the bar on what’s possible in education in terms of being able to change quickly and adapt to new learning and have strong outcomes for students in a very difficult time.”
Golla also estimated that his district will be near the 100% vaccination mark by the time the fall rolls around. “80 to 90%,” he says.
One of the last districts to welcome students back to in-person learning is Milwaukee Public Schools. The District welcomed back the last batch of high school students this past Monday.
Marquette University Fellow Alan Borsuk said the district, by far the largest in the state, made the decision to keep students at home due to overwhelming concern from parents, and teachers, regarding student safety.
“I don’t know if it [the district’s return plan] surprised me,” Borsuk told WTMJ’s John Mercure when asked if he was surprised with how the district handled their back-to-school plan. “Distressed, I’d say, because I think the kids education was being crimped at a time when they really needed it.”
Vaccine trials are currently underway on children as young as six months old, but we could still be months away from vaccines becoming the norm in elementary and middle schools.
Superintendent Golla and Alan Borsuk were both guests on the WTMJ Roundtable: Vacs Facts 2.0. You can find more coverage here.
