Fond du Lac school officials say blended model is going better than expected amid COVID-19
Sharon Roznik
FOND DU LAC - With almost a month into the new school year, the city's public school leaders continue a balancing act to work around coronavirus cases.
Fond du Lac School Interim Superintendent Sharon Simon said students not being in school together five days a week has been a challenge. The district is operating a blended model, with two groups of students attending in-person school on different days.
"It’s a learning curve for all of us — students, staff and parents — but I’m proud of how we are all continuing to learn and adapt together," she said.
Since school started, two classrooms were switched to required remote learning because of positive COVID-19 cases and quarantines, Simon said.
So far, none of the district's classroom teachers has tested positive since the start of the school year. However, two teachers were quarantined and continued to worked remotely with students in their classroom, using Zoom or Google Meet, she said.
Since Aug. 30, six staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. None of these was a classroom teacher.
Twenty-three students have tested positive for COVID-19, and 88 have been quarantined since the start of school.
According to a report to school board members included in the monthly board meeting agenda, as of Sept. 24, Fond du Lac (High School) Central had the most active COVID-19 cases, totaling four. Lakeshore Elementary School had 17 students and two staff members quarantine themselves because of possible exposure, but none tested positive.
Evans Elementary School and Sabish Middle School both accounted for one active student case. Evans also had one staff case, and Woodworth Middle School had two.
Stacey Buchholz, interim director of human resources, said the district lost 25% of its substitute teachers for this year for a number of reasons, but some were personal concerns about the pandemic. New substitutes have come on board, she said, but there are still not enough to fill the need.
“Our substitute coordinator, Gloria Schmidt, works very hard each morning to prioritize where subs are needed and to fill those positions across the district," Buchholz said. "Our staff have also been incredibly flexible in helping where they are needed."
Some school principals said so far the blended model, albeit its challenges, is working out better than expected.
"As adults, we had many worries about how our students would react to the new learning model," said Amy Kunstman, principal of Roberts Elementary School. "In reality, students have been resilient and flexible, and are so happy to be back in school.”
Fondy High Principal Matt Steinbarth said students and staff are doing a great job wearing masks, and school transmission of COVID-19 remains at zero up to this point.
"Although there are challenges, we are improving each day and love to have students back in the building," Steinbarth said.
The district continues to tackle the problem of trying to deliver technology access to everyone who needs it, as well as learning and support in using technology, Simon said.
"The goal of the district is to continue to be responsive to student and parent needs and provide the necessary supports," Simon said. "Our staff and students have really embraced a growth mindset in this area and continue to do things with technology that are creative and innovative."
The superintendent said the community can help students return to school five days a week by following Fond du Lac County Health Department COVID-19 guidelines of wearing a face covering, maintaining a social distance, avoiding large groups and staying home when sick.
Contact Sharon Roznik at 920-907-7936 or sroznik@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/reporterroz/
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