GREEN BAY (NBC 26) -- In a proposed plan released today, the Green Bay Area Public School District administration is recommending the school year start with an off-site instructional model.
A vote on how to proceed is set for a School Board meeting August 3.
The recommendation is in the final slide of a plan the school district released today for the 2020-21 school year. The full plan can be viewed here.
The plan also includes outlines for three instructional models: off-site, on-site and blended. The school district said it can move between the models during the school year, based on the level of COVID-19 activity in Brown County.
In order to move from off-site to blended, the district wants to see a 14-day statewide trend of 5 percent or lower in the COVID-19 positive test rate. The 14-day average on Thursday was 6.1 percent; the average has touched 5 percent or lower once over the last 14 days, at 4.8 percent on July 22.
The blended model for GBAPS calls for two days of in-person school per week for students in PreK through 12th grades. All GBAPS schools will be in the same model, according to the presentation.
The district's presentation noted Brown County coronavirus cases as among the highest in the state; Brown County had the third-most overall confirmed cases in the state as of Thursday. Brown County is the fourth-most populous county in Wisconsin, according to a 2019 state estimate.
The plan noted high community transmission of COVID-19 in Brown County, and cited "concern regarding a disruptive beginning to the school year if
classrooms or schools are frequently being quarantined." COVID-19 activity level is high in Brown County, according to the Wisconsin DHS.
The district linked to this page as the factor in when GBAPS would move to in-person school five days per week, labeled the "on-site" model. Brown County would need to be labeled "low," the presentation noted. As of Thursday, two counties in Wisconsin had the "low" designation, Rusk and Florence.
At a virtual special board meeting on August 3rd, at 5:00 p.m., the Board of Education will vote on which model the District should implement to begin the 2020-21 school year.
