De Pere parent sues school district over COVID-19 protocols

DE PERE (WLUK) - A parent in the De Pere school district has filed suit, seeking a court order stopping the district's COVID-19 protocols.

Stephanie McManus is a substitute teacher in the district, and has two high school-aged daughters in the district.

In the suit, she claims "this policy was created, implemented, and enforced without the requisite statutory or constitutional authority. Unless Defendants are enjoined from enforcing this unauthorized policy, Plaintiff will continue to suffer great and irreparable harm."

The suit claims the quarantine process results in too much missed time, and argues the policy is "unauthorized" under the law.

"For non-vaccinated students, the quarantine’s duration is ten days from the student’s last known contact with the COVID-19 positive individual if that student does not exhibit symptoms and has not received testing. For non-vaccinated students, the quarantine’s duration is seven days the student’s last known contact with the COVID-19 positive individual if that student does not exhibit symptoms and has received a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (“PCR”) test. Students are able to return to school when their isolation times are complete, and those students are fever free and any symptoms that they did have are improving. USDD’s COVID-19 Exposure Protocols were not promulgated pursuant to any statute, regulation, or other similar statutory schemes. Rather, USDD’s enactment of its COVID-19 Exposure Protocols was an impermissible overstep of the authority granted to Public Instruction institutions," the suit states.

Normally, defendants would have 45 days to reply to the suit once served. The suit asks for a temporary injunction, however, noting the "irreparable harm" which the policy causes.

A hearing has been scheduled for Friday, court records show.

District Supt. Ben Villarruel told FOX 11 Thursday morning he was unaware of the suit and had no comment.

The district has not been served with the suit as of Thursday morning, according to court records.

The school board's agenda for Monday lists a motion to modify quarantine procedures in grades 4K-6.