WUSD took no action, which upholds board’s earlier decision
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
After combing through a litany of recent and historical data, Whitewater Unified School District officials have decided to make facemask wearing optional when the classes resume in early September.
At a special meeting Aug. 9, the WUSD School Board took no action on the matter, a maneuver that essentially upheld a late May decision that made mask wearing optional for staff and students across all grade levels.
Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty revisited the masking issue with the start of the 2021-22 school year looming and an uptick in COVID-19 cases through the delta variant.
As with many school districts, WUSD’s board was tasked with deciding how to navigate pandemic-related protocols for the second consecutive year.
“We’re faced this evening with another pivotal decision at another polarized time,” Pate-Hefty said as she laid out the decision-making process in play.
Pate-Hefty said she was comfortable recommending an optional masking policy this fall, based on data from the past school year and outcomes from the optional policy that has been in place this summer.
Speaking to the number of positive COVID-19 cases through contact tracing from this past school year, Pate-Hefty said, “We had cases, but we learned that there was little school spread.”
WUSD’s decision also was based, in part, on a review of policies in place in nearby school districts. Pate-Hefty said 18 surrounding districts in Walworth and Jefferson counties have indicated plans of having an optional masking policy this fall.
During deliberations, no board members objected to the status quo approach being taken, though myriad thoughts on the matter were shared.
Board member Steve Ryan said he was comfortable with the plan in motion, pointing to a series of mitigation measures in place, such as a call for staff and students to quarantine if they are in contact with a household member who tested positive for COVID-19.
“That makes a big difference for my thinking,” Ryan said. “I think we all strongly recommend masks, but this option, I think, worked. Things might change, but I think what we have in place right now is working.”
School Board President Casey Judd, who was the only WUSD elected official to vote against making mask wearing optional in May, emphasized the plans are subject to revision if data related to COVID-19 prompts further review.
“If things change, we will have to revisit this,” Judd said.
To that end, board member Thayer Coburn said he agreed.
“No one knows what tomorrow will bring,” Coburn said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
At the Aug. 9 meeting, board members heard from several parents about the protocols in place.
Samantha Allan, a parent of three children in the district, has been an outspoken critic of a hard-and-fast facemask policy. She lauded the board for their decision to make it optional this fall.
“Thank you … for letting these kids get back to being kids,” Allan said. “They will be ecstatic.”
While facemasks will be optional indoors and outdoors at all Whitewater schools, students will still be required to wear them on buses, based on higher-level protocols requiring them on mass transit.
