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Updated Safety Mitigation Plans for 2021-22

On February 28, 2022 the South Milwaukee School Board approved the following updated COVID19 mitigation strategy: (additional changes approved on February 28)

• The district has ended the quarantine of asymptomatic students and staff who were in close contact with a positive case. 
• On March 1, masks will be optional in school and at after-school activities; and,
• After March 1, if a school’s positivity rate increases to 1.5% or greater, that building will move back to mandatory masks for a minimum of two weeks.
• Masks are no longer required on school buses;
• Students who test positive will have to stay home for five days and remain masked for five days after their return to school (or remain home for ten days if the student does not want to be masked for those five days)
• The district will still contact staff and students who were close contacts of a positive case and closely monitor for symptoms in those close contacts for 10 days after.
• The school district’s primary goal is to keep students healthy and safe so in-person classes can continue. Moving towards a mask-optional policy is reasonable now that there is a steep decline in cases in the South Milwaukee community and in the state. Indeed, within the school district, numbers of positive cases have dropped dramatically. At the beginning of January, the student positivity rate was 3%. As of February 11th, the rate is less than 1% with just one student with a confirmed case. 

The district continues to encourage its school community to take advantage of free COVID19 vaccinations, which have shown the ability to blunt the most dangerous illness of this disease. Masks and taking a sick day are still the recommended policy for anyone not feeling well and masks are always an option for anyone that remains uncomfortable in group settings.