Legislative Update

WASB members and other school leaders testify at return to school hearing

by Chris Kulow | Jun 25, 2020 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue

Yesterday, the Assembly Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac), held an informational hearing to take invited testimony from school leaders on returning to in-person instruction this fall. The WASB thanks School Board Presidents Steve Elliott (Albany) and Barbara Herzog (Oshkosh Area) for taking the time to testify as well as the myriad of other school leaders who did the same. The testimony was compelling and certainly gave lawmakers a picture of the challenges and decision-making that will go into what school looks like this fall.

Some of the themes that were heard throughout the hearing:

Goal is in-person instruction: Everyone recognizes that virtual learning is not ideal and returning to in-person instruction in a safe way for students and staff is the goal for fall. This was certainly the main takeaway from the committee chairman who was critical of the DPI guidance for not stressing a 5-days a week return to school plan in their recommendations:

Today the Assembly Education Committee held an informational hearing to listen to testimony from education groups…

Posted by Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt on Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Schools will need to be flexible: The hope is to be doing school in person, but that could be subject to change (e.g., hybrid or blended learning) if health conditions change.

Staffing: Concern about whether all of our teachers and staff will want to come back into the buildings if health concerns increase due to virus spread. Among the problem areas will be bus drivers, substitute teachers, and other positions that are often filled by older workers.

Resources: More personnel, more cleaning and janitorial staff, more school nurses, more bus routes and bus drivers will be needed.

Broadband: Internet access is still an issue in many areas/households in the state and not just rural areas. If in-person instruction cannot be provided, internet access issues and inequities among students will be of renewed concern.

Immense challenge: Navigating all of this in the next month and a half will be incredibly difficult not only because we can’t predict the COVID-19 situation in the future, but also because of the likely impact to state tax collections and what that could mean to school funding.

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Legislative Update

WASB members and other school leaders testify at return to school hearing

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