As Marathon County sees a high transmission of COVID, Wausau schools, parents and health officials set for the 'challenge' of another year

WAUSAU – Wednesday marked the first day of the new school year for the Wausau School District, which starts another year amid a COVID-19 surge. 

Adding to the jumble of policy plans across the state and central Wisconsin, the Wausau School Board decided in early August to start the school year without requiring face coverings and minimal physical distancing in schools. Other mitigation efforts were left in place, such as promoting vaccination, handwashing schedules and sanitizing stations.

The move to not mandate masks has drawn criticism from some parents within the district as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the county, which has seen 265 new COVID cases since last week. 

Wausau parents started a petition urging the school board to follow public health recommendations — including requiring masks and physical distancing — in schools; 941 people have signed in three weeks.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin:See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses

Dozens of parents have also emailed Wausau Schools Superintendent Keith Hilts and the school board asking for clarifications on the COVID policies. Hilts encouraged anyone with concerns to reach out to him, the school board and school principals.

"I don't think there's a disconnect (in communication)," Hilts said. "There's more disagreement. People don't like the information we're giving."

The district hands off quarantines and contact tracing to health department

The district has handed off a handful of mitigation efforts to the Marathon County Health Department, which will contact all positive cases, implement all quarantines and conduct all contact tracing. 

That can be a tall task with cases surging again.

Marathon County Public Health's new health officer, Laura Scudiere, who previously served as the community health improvement director, said the county is seeing high transmission and getting 40 to 50 new COVID cases a day.

For every one person who tests positive, there are anywhere between 30 to 50 contacts that the health department needs to notify about potential exposure. 

"We are in crisis standards of care — we have so many people that are testing positive in Marathon County in a day," Scudiere said. "The numbers continue to grow and it's far outpacing our ability to hire new contact tracers.

"That's really where the pain point is for us."

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Thanks to the highly contagious delta variant, Wisconsin's current seven-day average of new confirmed COVID cases is 1,699 and rising.

The state health department and Marathon County's health department continue to recommend Wisconsinites get vaccinated, wear a mask in public spaces, avoid indoor gatherings and follow other public health best practices.  

People who are not yet fully vaccinated continue to make up the significant majority of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, according to top health officials in the state.

“It is critical that we take action now to prevent further spread of the virus. Let’s use all of our effective prevention tools,” Dr. Ryan Westergaard, the state's epidemiologist for communicable diseases, said in a statement.

Other mitigation efforts in place 

A statement from the district released Tuesday evening addressed some parent concerns, recognizing masking as a polarizing subject and emphasizing the need for community effort.

It also addressed the parent petition.

"While we respect peoples’ opinions, petitions are only one piece of information. We are unable to vet the source of signatures as to whether they are even our own residents," the statement reads. "Further, we suspect, based on data last year, that if asked, a large majority of residents would support our staff’s and parents’ right to choose."

Masks are recommended for the 2021-22 school year, according to the Wausau School District's current policy. District administration will continue to evaluate COVID protocols and bring any recommendations for policy changes to the board for consideration, said Wausau School Board President Pat McKee.

"Given the unpredictable nature of the situation, it’s difficult to know what those changes might be and when they might happen," he said. 

Hilts echoed that sentiment, saying the board might revisit COVID policies such as masking "if it seems like COVID-19 cases are trending upward."

In a school board meeting in early August, board member Jon Creisher — who ran his campaign earlier this year on the platform that the district kept students in virtual learning for too long during the pandemic — spoke against requiring masks.

Creisher did not respond to the Daily Herald's interview requests Wednesday. He said in August the decision to require masks falls on parents and not the district.

"Masking is a choice for parents, and parents alone," he said. "That's where it should reside. I don't think the administration should be making that decision for everybody."

While Hilts said he has not heard of an increase in pediatric cases, Marathon County Public Health is seeing an increase in COVID cases in all age groups. 

Last week, of the 274 new confirmed cases, 46 were individuals 18 years old and younger, the health department reported. The week prior, of the 208 new confirmed cases, 40 were 18 and younger.

Families of students in elementary schools will be notified of positive cases within a classroom, Hilts said, because it's easy to track with whom students have had contact. It gets more challenging in secondary schools.

"In the secondary schools, because of the level of interaction between students, it really wouldn't be informative to parents," Hilts said.

He recommended those parents use the district's COVID dashboard at wausauschools.org, which will be relaunched with the new school year and updated daily. 

Other mitigation measures include:

• Upgraded air filtration across the district so air is exchanged several times per hour, and in many schools nearly 100% outdoor air is supplied when occupied
• Maintenance and custodial staff cleaning once a day; if there is a positive case of COVID, the space will be cleaned and disinfected by custodial staff
• The school district will offer free COVID testing to students presenting COVID symptoms

Scudiere said the health department has been working very closely with the school district and they've been "very collaborative." She said the health department is working to address the needs of the district. Hilts said there will be daily communication between the health department and the district.

Along with being a public health expert, Scudiere said she also has a child in the Wausau School District. She said part of the risk of embarking on a new school year during COVID is putting faith in other parents.

"Anything we do right now is problematic and involves all these micro-decisions we make as parents. It's complicated," she said. "My heart goes out to teachers and parents trying to weather this. It's a significant challenge."

Contact Allison Garfield at 715-351-9799 or agarfield@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @aligarfield_.