GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Green Bay school board is changing its isolation policies for students and staff who’ve been infected with COVID-19.
“People are feeling good quickly. It seems like there’s either one of two extremes, they’re not or they are. So symptoms are much more mild with the current strain that’s going on but certainly more contagious,” Green Bay School District Department Chair Nurse Kristen Johnson said.
The isolation policies will now follow the CDC’s guidelines.
If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID, they should isolate for five days.
They can return to school after five days if symptoms have resolved.
If the student or staff member is symptomatic, isolation starts the day symptoms start.
If they are asymptomatic, isolation starts the day they were tested.
“What I feel like we’ve been able to consistently rely on is going off of CDC guidance right? As a district, we’ve been able to say, hey this is what we’re going to hang our hat on, we’re not medical experts, that’s what we’re going to go off of,” Green Bay school board president Eric Vanden Heuvel said.
Superintendent Stephen Murley says the district is not seeing significant COVID spread in school.
“Most of the issues that we’re dealing with are coming from outside of school…Certainly the mitigation factors that we have in place right now which include masking, physical distancing, HVAC, and handwashing are making an enormous difference inside school.”
Board members also discussed revising the district’s quarantine policies.
The board plans to revisit that topic in the coming weeks.
The new policy is expected to be implemented no later than January 18th.
The Appleton Area School District board also met Monday night and voted to extend the district’s face mask requirement through Feb. 17. The mandate applies to all students and staff.
