Elmbrook Schools Sees COVID-19 Uptick In District Boundaries

BROOKFIELD, WI — School officials found multiple COVID-19 cases in one elementary school classroom after cases rose across the Elmbrook School District and in the broader community within the district’s boundaries, a school administrator said in a letter to parents Wednesday.

“Recently, we have seen an uptick in positive (COVID-19) cases in our schools and in our district boundaries. In three cases at two elementary schools, we have had multiple positive cases in one classroom that resulted in temporary masking of students and staff,” district administrator Chris Thompson said in a letter.

The letter went to families who had children in classrooms that required masks, before the district made all masking optional, Thompson told Patch.

The district no longer requires children to wear masks in their classrooms, but the district may consider masking back up if cases rise, Thompson added.

The district made masking optional after March 28, the district said in a letter on March 1.

The seven-day average for cases in the school district doubled between March 1 and Wednesday: The seven-day average for new cases was three new cases on March 1 and 6.4 on Wednesday, school data showed.

In its March 1 letter, the district announced masks will still be optional if:

• Waukesha County has medium or low community transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The level in Waukesha County was low on Friday.
• The seven-day average for positive cases in the school district’s boundaries are below 10.
• The seven-day average for disease activity among students is less than seven.

The seven-day average for cases within the school district's boundaries was 16.1 new cases per day on Wednesday, district data showed.

The district hasn't changed its approach since it changed thresholds on March 1, Thompson told Patch.

The school district won’t require volunteer visitors to wear masks or for unvaccinated staff to go through weekly testing if cases in the community are low, Thompson told Patch.

A group of parents asked the school district if it would change its rules about masking for volunteers and visitors, and screening for unvaccinated staff, Thompson added in the letter.

There wasn’t enough evidence from the school’s data to suggest that rule change led to an increase in cases, he said.

An outdated document — posted in January 2022 — listing the district’s COVID-19 thresholds remained on the district’s COVID-19 dashboard as of Friday.

See Also: Confusion Over Elmbrook COVID-19 Threshold Changes