MENOMINEE, MI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Menominee schools offers parents three options for kids to return to school in the fall.
They are the same three many districts in Wisconsin — and the country — considered: face-to-face, virtual, or a mix of both.
However, a positive coronavirus test meant none of those options were possible today.
So Monday in Menominee felt like the weekend… at least for some. Students got the day off of school, and the district says it probably won’t be made up.
“It confused me to tell you the truth, because I was not expecting this at all,” parent Moriah Wilke said.
Menominee Schools Superintendent John Mans says the in-person school year had been going well… before Monday.
“In fact so smooth, I’ve been waiting for a shoe to drop because it’s like it’s been going too well,” Mans said. “And so it was going terrific, until I got a call on late Sunday afternoon.”
Four of Mans’ teachers are out. One tested positive for COVID-19. The other three were in contact with that teacher. Students aren’t surprised.
“I knew this was going to happen because like there’s so many cases in Menominee,” freshman Chloe Bruno said.
“Everyone knew it was gonna happen eventually,” freshman Chloe Schraudenbach added.
After the positive test, Mans says the district couldn’t find any substitute teachers to replace the missing staffers.
“We knew we couldn’t fill it, and we didn’t want to go in and try to have a day and just have it be a big mess. Things have been going far too well,” Mans said.
Instead, they used the day off to get back on track.
“We think we’re in really good shape now. We’ve been meeting all morning and making a lot of phone calls, so we’re set for tomorrow, we’ll be a go again,” Mans said. “I’ll do cartwheels if I have to to get people here.”
Mans tells FOX 11 the four teachers will quarantine for 14 days.
Bonduel Superintendent Joe Dawidziak was in a similar spot too, after a student and staff member tested positive.
Instead of calling the day off, the district went virtual today. They’ll be back to a regular schedule for grades three through 12 tomorrow.
“We were going to have a little bit of a struggle covering some staff, and to go along with that trying to contact trace students, or potentially groups of students, [at] 9:15 on a Sunday night,” Dawidziak said.
Kindergarten through 2nd grade in Bonduel is virtual for the rest of the week.
