G-E-T to keep mask options open

While the majority of school board members in attendance expressed concern with the proposal laid out by Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District Superintendent Michele Butler regarding masking in school, most agreed that the board should support its administration.

Butler presented a plan at the regular board meeting Monday that would only mandate masks should the COVID-19 spread enter “critical risk” phase — a seven-day average of 71 daily new cases per 100,000 people. Butler said she will look at both the county data and school district-specific date before making a decision, but using seven days was important so the rules would not change daily.

Five of the seven board members in attendance questioned that plan, all seeming to agree that masks should be required when the spread is “high risk” — 25-to-71 daily new cases per 100,000 people. On Monday, the county’s seven-day average was 28.4 new cases per 100,000 people. When in high risk, masks are recommended, language that Butler said is used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trempealeau County Health Department. 

“This is not an easy black and white decision,” Butler said. “It was hard last year and, I gotta tell you, right now this feels worse.”

Board member Paul Kinzer argued that if masks were mandated last year, they should be again this year. 

“How are things different than they were last spring? How are they better than last spring? I would say they are worse,” Kinzer said. 

Kinzer also said that the argument that COVID-19 doesn’t transmit to children or make them sick is being proven wrong. Fellow board member Todd Roesler spoke about his 10-year-old child who contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine, a situation he said he wouldn’t wish on anybody.

Board member Larry Moore initially agreed with what Butler presented. 

“If school were to open tomorrow, I assume everybody would be wearing a mask,” Moore said, he was then corrected as other board members pointed out that the county was in high risk, not critical. 

Moore then changed his stance to support Butler. “If the administration is saying that masks are optional, I’m going to follow the recommendation.” 

Board member Mark Kopp said there is “so much conflicting information out there” and that he thinks the board should allow people to make their own informed decisions “based on what is best for them.”

Board member Harold Olson agreed saying it should be about personal choice. 

“I firmly believe that your personal choice stops when it starts to impact me,” Pat Malone, board member, said. 

Malone quickly added that she agreed with Moore that the district should support its administration. 

Kopp said that while urban districts have mandated masks, rural districts operate differently, suggesting rural districts had not mandated masks and that he trusts district residents to make the right decisions.  

“As rural folks, we’re wired a little different,” Kopp said.

“I strongly disagree with what you stated, just with everything you said,” board member Kari Marley said.

Roesler pointed out that Independence had already decided to mandate masks. Butler said most of the schools in the county are following recommendations from the Trempealeau County Health Department, which is to mandate masks.  

Also in attendance was Kim Breidenbach, a family medicine physician at Gundersen Tri-County Hospital and Clinics in Whitehall. In the open forum session of the meeting, she said the Delta variant was more serious than the initial strand of COVID-19 that was going around last year. She said that the variant is twice as likely spread and recommended that the district follow the guidance of health experts. 

Butler said that she ran her plan by Breidenbach before presenting it to the board and that Breidenbach agreed with much of it, however disagreed with the masking policy.

Both Roesler and Moore thought it was important that the plan could change. Butler said she had been in contact with the county health department and she was told she would be contacted if the health department noticed a surge in the district. 

Butler added that other protocols will remain, including spacing children and making sure to limit close contact. 

“It’s not a perfect science, but it’s amazing how much we can do just by being careful,” Butler said. 

In other matters the board:

• Approved the hiring of Amy McCutchen, CTE coordinator; Maggie Gengler, special ed paraprofessional; Shaina Reimer, special ed paraprofessional; Deb Schwertel, paraprofessional and Jackie Repaal, paraprofessional. 

• Approved extra curricular contract for the fall sports season.

• Accepted the resignations of Betsy Scherr, paraprofessional and Abby Fernan, high school counselor.

(Editor's note: This version of the story has been edited slightly from the version that appeared in this week's print edition.)