GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Green Bay Area Public School's Board of Education plans to evaluate changes to the district's COVID-19 protocols, including a possible end to the quarantine of close contacts.
The board discussed current pandemic procedures and potential next steps at its meeting on Monday. During public participation, one parent voiced she's happy the board is looking at moving forward.
"At this point, the vaccine has been widely available for adults. So the people who want to take it have taken it. And now the vaccine is available for children. So, again, families have to make that choice," said Alicia Van Straten, Green Bay. "There are so many kids who are being held out of school because of quarantining for close contacts that have absolutely tested negative, that have absolutely no symptoms, and they're still not allowed to come back into school. So we really just need to look at, what is this going to look like and at what point do we move forward."
The GBAPS Board of Education is meeting tonight and is set to discuss current status, procedures and next steps when it comes to the pandemic. @NBC26 pic.twitter.com/i09otTXFWV
— Kelsey Dickeson (@KelseyDickeson) November 9, 2021
The district's COVID-19 dashboard shows there are 785 students and 56 staff members in quarantine or isolation as of Monday night. Of that number, 89 students and 27 staff members are in isolation. The district's active COVID-19 case rate is less than one-percent.
As the district's active case rate and number of isolations trend down, Eric Vanden Heuvel, board president, suggested they consider ending quarantine of close contacts if the data continues to support it.
"I don't believe there are any other districts around us that are still doing that practice. It certainly gets more kids in school more often," Vanden Heuvel said.
Brenda Warren, school board trustee, supported this suggestion and said she likes the idea of changing one variable at a time.
"Getting kids in school and keeping them there has always been one of our priorities. It's part of why we require masks, to help decrease the exposure for kids so they can end up being in school more," Warren said.
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Vaccinated students and staff in Green Bay schools currently don't need to quarantine if they've had close contact. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available to kids 5 and up, Dawn Smith, board clerk, said the district will likely see fewer quarantines as more students in the new age group are vaccinated.
Stephen Murley, superintendent of schools and learning, said they will put together various recommendations for potential action that would be triggered by certain metrics. The board plans to have further discussion and a possible vote for action on any changes to procedures at its December meeting.
