‘Hodag Re-entry Plan’ described at board meeting

By Eileen Persike
Star Journal Editor

The School District of Rhinelander (SDR) will be rolling out a blended instructional plan when school opens in September. But before the school bells ring, families will be making a choice of whether their students will instead enroll in virtual learning, at least for the first semester.

Superintendent Eric Burke explained the two-option instructional delivery model Monday evening at a special school board meeting, held in the high school auditorium to accommodate larger attendance.

Option one includes three levels. The “green” level is all students attending school in person, five days, with the exception being those who choose virtual learning.

The “yellow” level varies by grade, with pre-kindergarten attending two days per week, elementary students attending in person Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Middle and high school students will be split into two groups, each group attending two full days in person and two days of remote learning.

All students would work remotely from home on Wednesday.

The “red” level entails all buildings being fully remote, with staff reporting to school with safety measures in place.

Option two is full-time virtual learning. A survey will be sent to parents Aug. 4 to sign up for this option. Staff from the district’s virtual learning program, Hodag Tracks, will reach out to families to complete the enrollment form.

“If school were to start tomorrow, we would be in level two (yellow),” said Superintendent Burke. “That’s based on recommendations from our leadership team and health advisory panel.”

Burke said the decision on what level the district will be on when school begins will be made Aug. 17 and will be based on “what’s going on in our community, our county and based on what our health panel and medical experts are telling us.” Starting slow, Burke said, provides a chance to implement new procedures and protocols and to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Parents and staff had the opportunity to speak and ask questions, though no answers were provided at the meeting. Answers will be emailed. The meeting agenda called for a report or discussion regarding the fall school opening plan, there was no vote taken by the school board. It is expected another special meeting will be called in the coming weeks to discuss further details on the re-opening plan.

A more in-depth report will be posted Tuesday afternoon.