Green Bay area school district and COVID-19: Answers to six questions about the virus

The number of Green Bay public school students and staff isolated or quarantined because of COVID-19 exposure climbed past 1,500 Tuesday afternoon, as COVID-19 activity in the county remained high.

Specifically, 39 staff and 1,489 students were out of school Tuesday in isolation or being quarantined, as 148 positive COVID-19 cases had been reported in the schools since the school year began Sept. 1, according to the district's COVID-19 dashboard.

 The Green Bay public school district is the state's fourth largest, with roughly 19,000 students. 

As the school year arrives at the two-week mark, district officials are treating the number as manageable. They say they are able to keep schools open as long as students and staff remain masked inside the district's schools.

The Green Bay School Board members decided at their Monday night meeting they will continue following existing rules for students and staff members who are exposed to someone infected by COVID-19. They also rejected a board member's proposal to reduce the time that some students exposed to COVID-19 must stay out of school.

Green Bay is not alone in seeing the impact of COVID-19 cases increase. Howard-Suamico schools reported 310 people under isolation or quarantine on Tuesday, an increase of 46% from Monday. 

Brown County remains one of 56 of the state's 72 counties state health officials label as having "very high" COVID-19 rates, the highest of a four-level rating system.

Here are answers to key questions facing the district and its families:

How many students and staff are in isolation or are being quarantined?

The district reported 1,489 on Tuesday, up more than 100 from Monday's figure. 

Where are the impacts the greatest?

Franklin Middle School on the west side, with 148 people isolated or quarantined, is the hardest hit. Thirteen students and two staff are in isolation, which means they've tested positive for COVID-19.

After Franklin, two east-side schools — Preble High School with 93 people in isolation or quarantine, and Edison Middle, with 79 — have the most students and teachers out of school due to COVID-19.

How do quarantine and isolation differ? 

A student or teacher must quarantine if they have had direct contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19, or are symptomatic, but have not been tested or are waiting for test results. If the person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, and shows no symptoms of the illness, quarantine is not required.

A person must isolate if he or she has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

How is work assigned when students are home because of COVID-19?

Unlike much of the 2020-21 school year, when teachers and students connected with each other via the internet, teachers send work home, usually the day after the student begins quarantine or isolation.

What if a lot of people from one classroom get COVID-19?

If five or more people (or 20%, whichever is smaller) contract the virus, everyone in the class will need to quarantine at home for up to 10 days. Teachers will spend the first day preparing assignments and other schoolwork for students to complete at home.

Any chance the district would recommend a shorter quarantine?

Not now. School Board member Andrew Becker on Monday proposed reducing quarantine and isolation periods by 30% (a 10-day quarantine would have become seven). But a board majority sided with President Eric Vanden Heuvel, who said the current approach was working. 

Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider