Stevens Point School District to move to e-learning on Jan. 10

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The Stevens Point School District superintendent announced to parents on Thursday, the district will move to virtual learning for one week starting January 10, 2022.

Superintendent Craig Gerlach said the move to e-learning for Pre-K - 12 grade is due to COVID cases in the district and “staff capacity concerns”.

SPASH students will have an e-learning and catch-up day on Friday, January 7.

The district’s COVID-19 dashboard shows there are six confirmed positive cases for SPASH staff, while 27 students have confirmed cases. District-wide there are 92 confirmed active cases in students and 42 staff active cases.

Here’s the entire message sent to parents:

District-Wide E-Learning Monday, January 10 - Friday, January 14, 2022

This communication is to regretfully inform you that due to recent and multiple COVID

cases across the District, as well as significant staff capacity concerns, we need to take

immediate action.

Therefore, the Stevens Point Area Public School District (SPAPSD) is shifting all students

PreK-12th grade to E-Learning beginning Monday, January 10 through Friday,

January 14, 2022. According to Portage County Health and Human Services, there has

been a dramatic increase in positive COVID cases in Portage County as well as state-wide,

and this week the District has experienced that same trend.

We have been committed since the inception of the pandemic to preserve face-to-face

educational opportunities for our students, while supporting the needs and safety of our

team members. However, we have reached an unprecedented number of staff and

student absences due to illnesses within our buildings and are unable to fill staff

absences. Measures were taken today to close SPASH tomorrow due to an approximate

25% student absent rate. We are very concerned about how to safely operate our schools

with this recent uptick across the District.

These are not easy decisions, and we know E-Learning days burden families who are

working hard to balance multiple roles and responsibilities. Our goal has been and

continues to be to operate our schools in-person when it is safe. This decision has been

carefully considered and not made lightly given the inconvenience and disruption we

know this will cause students and families.

As we all know, COVID is an ever-changing situation, one we cannot predict and one that

will require our continued flexibility. We are actively monitoring this situation and will

continue to provide updates if any further actions need to be taken.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, cgerlach@pointschool.net or

715-345-5444.

Respectfully,

Craig Gerlach, Ed.S.

Superintendent of Schools

Stevens Point Area Public School District

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