As new COVID-19 cases decline from an early fall surge that drove the statewide death toll to more than 4,600, the public debate about returning children to school buildings for their second semester is escalating.
A handful of districts across the state that have remained, fully or mostly, in online-only learning are getting pressure from state lawmakers and grassroots parent groups as the battle for in-person learning continues, and some have succumbed to public outcry.
In August, the Kenosha Unified School Board reversed a decision made over the summer to start the school year in an online-only setting. In September, parents in Appleton who were frustrated by online learning launched a recall effort against three school board members, and parents in Oshkosh and Wausau have also begun to organize against online-only learning models.
In November, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, addressed school closures across the country, which further incensed parents and community members on both sides of the issue.
COVID-19 spread “among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected,” Fauci said. “So let’s try to get the kids back, but let’s try to mitigate the things that maintain and just push the kind of community spread that we’re trying to avoid.”
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans joined the push for in-person learning at the beginning of December, after Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, unveiled a COVID-19 relief plan that would require in-person learning to be reinstated by the end of January, with exceptions; a two-thirds vote by school boards to approve online-only instruction; and provide relief payments for parents of students who have had at least 50% online instruction since September.
Some Assembly Republicans remain skeptical about passage. Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, vice chair on the Assembly Committee on Education, said he would prefer to leave the decision up to individual school districts.
“I don’t want to have to tell them what to do,” he said. “But, we’re seeing in some of the bigger cities where they’ve been resistant to going back.”
Ed Sadlowski, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc., said there has been discussion of a teacher protest if the Legislature demands all educators return to classrooms.
“We can’t predict the future, we want to avoid that, but that’s become a conversation since the announcement” of Vos’ plan, he said.
Dane County
In Dane County, parents in a number of districts have spearheaded more than a dozen grassroots efforts to get area students back to class for at least part of the school year.
Most districts maintained online-only learning models at the beginning of the school year at the behest of the city-county health department.
But Public Health Madison and Dane County has since reversed its course and released recommendations and requirements for districts that seek to reopen all grades, instead of COVID-19 case metrics that were previously used. A number of districts have already released plans to offer in-person learning during the second half of the school year, following Public Health’s updated guidelines.
The Middleton-Cross Plains School Board voted Monday to return grades 4K-4 to in-person learning with an online option in February, and will vote again on older students. Some say it’s not good enough.
Shaney Andler, a Middleton High School parent who runs the nonprofit Bridge Volunteering, which helps high school students meet volunteering criteria required to graduate, said she wants to see children in all grades back inside sooner. She said online-only learning has been lifechanging for her son.
“It’s been almost personality-altering, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said. “These years are so formative and these guys got shorted of a really, really important time in their life. I worry about the ramifications of that.”
Two members of the Middleton-Cross Plains School Board were targeted for recall after their choice to move to online-only learning at the start of the 2020-21 school year. The effort was dropped after organizers failed to obtain the required number of signatures.
Angela Rachidi, one of the organizers, opted to remove her children from the district after the recall effort failed.
“Even with the little bit of progress that’s been made, (the district) is still talking about only two days a week of (in-person) school, so it would be going on a year and a half ago of my elementary school kids being out of (in-person) school,” she said. “In the end, we felt their (academic) needs aren’t being met so we had to go out and seek other options.”
The Waunakee Community School District plans to return grades 5-12 to in-person learning with an online option on Jan. 26, pending approval by the school board, and the Sun Prairie Area School District will return all grades to in-person learning with an online option by Feb. 22. Other Dane County districts are also weighing their options.
Madison schools
The Madison School District is slated to announce whether it will return to in-person learning during the second half of the school year by Jan. 8. The decision will come less than two months after the death of Isai Morocho, a 16-year-old East High School junior who became the youngest person in Wisconsin to succumb to the virus in November.
Isai’s death hit home for Madison parents, especially those in the Hispanic community, said Pastor Pedro Ruiz, leader of Iglesia Restauracion Y Vida and parent to students in the district.
“It got people thinking, ‘What if this happened to my child?’” he said.
But for a number of families within Madison’s Hispanic community, sending their children back to class is necessary.
Many members of the Hispanic community are essential workers, but with their children out of school, one or both parents who previously worked had to stay home — which can bring a significant financial toll, Ruiz said.
Ruiz has heard from members of his church and others that as long as safety measures are in place, they’ll send their children back to in-person learning.
But, despite financial hardship caused by keeping children at home, other members of communities that have been hardest hit by the virus remain steadfast about keeping kids home.
Erica Odeneal, an African American single parent of a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old in Madison schools, said she will not send her children back to class amid the pandemic.
Odeneal, a retail manager, said friends and members of her family contracted the virus and some died. She has adjusted her work schedule around her children’s school schedule, and the financial impact of the pandemic on her family has been immense.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” she said. “I’m trying to keep my babies safe and keep them at home, so I will not be sending them to school.”
Her biggest fear with schools reopening is the potential for a surge in cases, and the possibility her children are included. “I think it’s too soon,” she said.
Sadlowski said educators are also conflicted about returning to class.
“What’s going to happen? Am I going to be safe? Am I going to get my family members sick?” are among the questions teachers are asking themselves as they prepare to hear the district’s decision in January, he said.
Science used by Public Health Madison and Dane County to form requirements and recommendations to reopen schools suggests that comprehensive school-based mitigation strategies can reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission even in areas with moderate community spread. While teachers and staff may be at higher risk for school-based transmission, the risk can be reduced through proper mitigation techniques.
For some, no choice
Some rural districts across the state have remained open not in defiance of public health recommendations but because their communities lack the infrastructure to host online learning.

Bark
Markesan, a rural district roughly 60 miles northeast of Madison, has fewer than 1,000 students in a city with a population of less than 2,000. The district has maintained in-person learning throughout the 2020-21 school year, aside from a week at the end of September when schools closed for a “fall break” due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the area.
During that fall break, the entire district staff was called in to troubleshoot virus mitigation in school buildings, interim district administrator Jason Breaker said.
Breaker became interim administrator after Superintendent Duane Bark was hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms in July. Bark, who had been the superintendent for 10 years, lost his three-month battle with the virus on Oct. 7.
The district came up with a plan to maintain social distancing in classes and during recess, in order to maintain in-person learning. Students eat lunch in their classrooms and extra cleaning is done at night.
“Our school nurse has done an outstanding job communicating symptoms with the district and keeping students home when they haven’t been feeling well,” Breaker said. “We found a good balance right now.”
Markesan doesn’t have strong internet infrastructure and for the majority of district families, online learning isn’t an option.
“Even if families do have internet, people need to work,” Breaker said. “We can send a Chrome book home, but there might not be anyone there to support the students during their school day.”
Reducing the risk
Andy Waity, president of Madison Teachers Inc., said there will have to be a lot of modifications to in-person learning to maintain the health and safety of staff and students.
“Madison schools are lightyears ahead of, tragically, where the rest of the state is at,” in terms of health precautions to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in classrooms, Sadlowski said. “But things aren’t safe. It’s just not OK right now.”
To help protect against a COVID-19 outbreak within schools, the district plans to include daily health screenings, such as temperature checks, for students and staff. District leaders are also considering the use of rapid testing for those who are exposed to students or staff who test positive.
The district said it has more than 50,000 masks available and has been “stockpiling” personal protective equipment for the past six months. Hand sanitizer and cleaning kits will be provided in each classroom, and the school building HVAC system has been updated to circulate fresh, filtered air. The plumbing system underwent a “clean sweep” to ensure safe water.
Yet, staff remain wary of the decision to return to in-person learning.
“Everyone wants to be back in their classrooms, but they don’t want to be there if it means their health and safety is in jeopardy in a significant way,” Waity said. “The folks who are in those positions, who are actually in the classrooms should have the strongest voice” in the decision to return to learning in-person.
Photos: How Midwest schools are navigating COVID-19

Lupe Ramirez speaks at a small rally in front of city hall in East Chicago, Indiana, on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and others were there to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

Alex Watkins holds a sign at a small rally in front of the East Chicago City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and a small group gathered to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

With help from an interactive video board, HAST instructor Mira Projovic lectures remote high school students during a Women's Studies course on Sept. 24 in Hammond, Indiana.

Following a lecture for his science course, Hammond (Indiana) Academy of Science and Technology instructor Steve Grimm gives two thumbs-up to his remote eighth grade students on Sept. 22.

Lowell student fans are spaced apart in the student section as they cheer on the Red Devils against Portage on Aug. 29 in Lowell, Indiana.

Despite the rather unusual conditions, students remain diligent in their studies at Duneland Boys & Girls Club on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

A student waits for assistance from a Duneland Boys & Girls Club staff member on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak dons gloves to clean her desk area after a sick student left the nurse's office at Lake Central High School on Aug. 21 in St. John, Indiana. Lake Central students returned to class this week. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak uses disinfectant wipes to clean the area in her office after a sick student was sent home Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurses Carla VanDerNoord, left, and Lisa Bosnak compare notes while updating data related to whether students are on campus or e-learning Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Carla VanDerNoord updates student information relating to whether they are on campus or currently e-learning Aug. 21 in the nurse's office at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Munster students use plastic buffer shields and social distancing in Hannah Fus’ American Sign Language class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School students set up three-sided plastic buffers on their desks in Kelly Barnes’ English 9 classroom in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School Principal Michael Wells stands in the hallway near the main entrance in August as students pass for their next class. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School teacher Kelly Barnes logs in with her virtual learning students during her English 9 class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

In Central Illinois, a McLean County Unit District No. 5 school bus is operated by a driver wearing a mask on Friday.

Special Education teacher Dustin Underwood fills in as a substitute culinary arts teacher at Normal Community West High School in Central Illinois on Nov. 6.

Vehicles are lined up outside Grove Elementary School in Normal on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Parents were not allowed inside due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Susy Marcum, school nurse at Grove Elementary School in Normal, Illinois, works inside "The Bubble," a quarantine area set up in a classroom for her nurses station on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Students will isolate in the area until a parent can pick him or her up from school.

In Normal, Illinois, Grove Elementary School music teacher Gabe Myers, left, welcomes Laila Abouelmagd, 5, to kindergarten, as her grandmother, Dolores Callahan, and father, Mohamed Abouelmagd, unload her school supplies on Oct. 19.

Karlie Underwood, 17, a senior at Heyworth High School in Central Illinois, makes a podcast on Oct. 16.

Masked students leave Racine Lutheran High School on Thursday afternoon. It might have been one of the last times students at Racine Lutheran will be able to attend classes in person in 2020, since the city of Racine Health Department announced Thursday it would order all schools in its jurisdiction — both public and private — to close their buildings after Thanksgiving.

Madison Preschool of the Arts second-graders -- from left, Carl Pevehouse, Charlotte Austin and Gabe Mahaffey -- work on self-portraits, which includes showing their face masks. The early childhood center on Madison's West Side has pivoted to help families juggling jobs and assisting their elementary-age children with online learning.

Sherry White directs students to and from vehicles and the building on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Sherry White directs students to vehicles during staggered times to allow safe distance for students at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Third-grader Myleigh Taylor leaves school Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois on Friday.

Fifth-grader Braden Brown heads to his parents' car after school on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois. Parents pick up students during staggered times.

UW freshmen, from left, Elinor Picek, Lauren Sullivan and Audrey Sarasin use a timer to take photos around Camp Randall prior to kickoff of the Badgers' season opener against Illinois in Madison on Oct. 23. COVID-19 cases and positivity rates have been creeping upward on campus since late last month.

A sign on Madison Area Technical College's Truax campus in October informs students of COVID-19 protocols.

Illinois State University students test for COVID-19 on Aug. 24 in Normal.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, freshman Ramsey Folkerts carries boxes into a dorm Aug. 21 on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The school has had to adapt numerous policies this academic year because of COVID.

Eastern Illinois University students Jenna Decker, from left, Katelyn Montgomery and Madeline McQueen walk around campus on Aug. 20 during move-in day.