Hurley to decide when school will start in August

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley — The Hurley school board will decide the start of the school year and the fate of the fall sports season at its regular meeting in August.

The unanimous decision on Monday came after school administrator Kevin Genisot recommended the regular meeting date of Aug. 17, as opposed to an Aug. 5 special meeting that was proposed in June. This would give the 12-member special committee that includes the Iron County health officer opportunity to assess all available information to determine if an in-school start is feasible as opposed to options of starting later or going to online learning.

“The next step would be for both principals to get together with their teaching staff to fine tune each end,” Genisot said. “The elementary school opening will be vastly different from the high school as both sides will have different challenges.”

It is too early to roll out a plan at this time and so the school administrative team is engaged in planning the next steps, he said. There will be a survey sent out to staff and parents to incorporate those ideas and concerns.

Genisot said there is the threat of the U.S. Department of Education threatening to withhold federal funding to schools that do not open. The decision to open or not will be based on local factors and if the school does open there have been $133,000 in improvements from mobile sanitary stations to touchless faucets and kitchen updates.

“We want a safe return for our students and staff,” Genisot said.

Students and staff should be prepared for the possibility of alternating from in-school classes to virtual learning from home throughout the year, he said.

Leslie Kolesar, school board president, said it is important to gauge community and teacher input but that everyone should understand that the Iron County Health Department’s recommendation would have the most weight in any board decision.

“I am in agreement with making the decision at the latest date possible to make the best possible decision,” Kolesar said. “We have never seen a scenario like this and we need to be flexible and willing to change plans based on what we are hearing and what comes from the county.”

In his report, Steve Lombardo, the prekindergarten to fifth-grade principal and school athletic director, said that the increase in local COVID-19 cases recently has required the weight room and gym facilities to close after being opened to students on July 6.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our guidelines appropriately,” he said.

Without guidance from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, Lombardo recommended that a board decision on whether to approve, cancel or move the fall sports schedule for football, volleyball and cross country to spring should also be made at the Aug. 17 meeting. The board 5-0 approved the request.

“As of today the WIAA has not come out with a recommendation or update as far as what they are advising for the fall season,” Lombardo said.

The WIAA sent out a survey to all school superintendents on Friday to gauge opinion on the appropriate course of action, he said. He expects to have some WIAA guidance this week from the results.

Lombardo said he is also waiting for consensus among the Indianhead Conference regarding basketball, track and volleyball, and the Lakeland Conference regarding football. He was not supportive of a summer sports schedule with families expressing concern regarding vacations and working students.

Andy Laurin, school board vice president, said that contact sports rules under COVID-19 are going to make any type of competition difficult. There may be unrealistic challenges to coaching and to players, he said.

“In my honest opinion I think we are just kicking the can down the road,” Laurin said.

In other business, the board approved:

—A low bid to Fahrner Asphalt Sealers for blacktop crack-filling, sealing and painting of school parking lots.

—Adopting the Common Core Standards for English, math and language arts.

—Teacher work hours from 7:30 a.m. until school buses leave after 3:15 p.m.

—A $30 stipend for school staff and advisors who chaperone students for two or more hours.

—Increasing the cheerleading advisor salary from $1,100 to $3,000.

—The revised support staff handbook.

—Student and athletic handbooks.

—An Iron County Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts proposal to maintain the portion of the non-motorized trail located on the school forest land in Oma.

—Increasing the breakfast and lunch prices by 10 cents per state guideline and requirements to prevent deficit spending.

—Increasing the pay rate for long term substitute teachers from $110 per day to $140 per day after working 20 days.

—Disposing middle school and high school classroom furniture in preparation of new furniture.