WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Elementary students in the Wausau School District will no longer be required to wear face masks in class after a student or teacher tests positive for COVID-19.
The Board of Education voted Monday to end masking requirements for classrooms following a positive test. Board Member Lance Trollop said there just wasn’t enough evidence to show that the face coverings were making a difference in the classroom setting.
Trollop said he’s been checking Wausau’s numbers against other districts like Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, and Marshfield. “I started the year doing it every day looking to see if there would be a difference, and there wasn’t. The last few months, I’ve been [looking] once a week. We haven’t even been the high of the four [districts.] Looking at the evidence, I just don’t see that (the protocol) is really making a difference.”
The motion passed 9-1 with little discussion.
Students and staff had been required to wear masks in the classroom for five days following exposure to someone who tested positive. Now, those masks are optional at all times.
The Board also gave Superintendent Keith Hilts instructions to look into leasing a water filtration system for drinking fountains in buildings that are hooked up to the Wausau water utility after last week’s announcement of PFAS found in all six of the city’s wells. Hilts says he found out the news alongside everyone else last Wednesday, and the district took immediate action by shutting down all drinking fountains and purchasing bottled water for staff and students.
The district could lease the filtration systems for $28,000 for the rest of the school year. That amount would cover multiple fountains in each building, but wouldn’t be enough to cover all of them.
Board members agreed with a new drinking water treatment plant on the horizon it doesn’t make sense to look for a permanent solution. City leaders, including Mayor Katie Rosenberg and Public Works Director Eric Lindman, have previously said they intend to have the new plant designed to filter out those chemicals.
No action on that measure was taken, but the board did give Hilts the go-ahead to bring back a more complete proposal at a future date.
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