Wauwatosa School Board Approves Phased Reopening Plan

WAUWATOSA, WI — The Wauwatosa School Board voted 6-1 on Monday to approve the district's reopening framework plan for the 2020-21 school year. The virtual meeting on Zoom didn't end until around 1 a.m. Tuesday after board members went through the plan and parents and staff members commented.

The four phased plan calls for school and health officials to closely monitor coronavirus cases to decide if the district should go virtual, in-person or hybrid.

The plan calls for two options for families, virtual learning or phased-in learning.

Phase one's goal is for staff to become comfortable with the learning environment and safety procedures. Phase two is designed to have students comfortable with the learning environment and would have staff and students attending, phase three would be for the first week of school and would be a hybrid model, and phase four would be continued learning with options for virtual learning, hybrid learning, or classroom learning, depending on metrics outlined in the plan.

If metrics don't meet the standard held by the medical and health advisory panel for classroom learning, then students will go to virtual learning.

Wauwatosa Superintendent Dr. Phil Ertl discussed taking politics out the decision making and relying on science.

While Ertl acknowledged not everyone will be happy with plan, but the district is trying to find a happy medium.

For more information visit Wauwatosa School District's website.