Evers leaves school opening decisions to local districts

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — New state guidelines for reopening schools this fall are merely suggestions and local officials will ultimately set the standards governing when students will be brought back, Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday.

The governor closed schools in March as the coronavirus pandemic seized the state. Districts finished out the year through distance learning.
The state Department of Public Instruction issued reopening guidelines for schools on Monday. The guidelines call for face masks, a maximum of 10 students in each class and keeping buildings open as few as two days a week.

Evers, a former state schools superintendent, told reporters during a conference call that the guidelines are a list of options, not orders. Local school districts can make their own choices, the governor said.

Local school boards have been pondering how to reopen since March, the governor said, and he has “confidence school districts will be able to figure this out.”

Wisconsin has seen 25,331 cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease the coronavirus causes, as of Tuesday, according to state health officials. The disease has caused 750 deaths.

Nearly 19,000 people have recovered, leaving about 5,580 active cases in the state. Wisconsin is home to about 5.8 million people.