The Silver Lake-Salem Jt. #1 School Board on Monday voted 3-2 to move all of Riverview School to virtual instruction on Nov. 30 and return to in-person learning Jan. 4.
The move closely follows a recommendation of the Kenosha County Division of Health.
The board discussed the matter at Monday’s board meeting with the vote being 3-2, with members Mike Gentile, Cheryl Masnova and Bert Christensen voting for the motion to follow the recommendation and Jim Walker and David VanKampen voting against.
In a letter to parents sent Tuesday, district administrator Jon Schleusner said:
The move at this time from in-person to virtual instruction is complex and there are many important considerations that have been reviewed over the past several days and discussed at the meeting. The rationale behind the KCHD recommendation, staffing shortages, the value of in-person versus virtual schooling, socialization concerns for school-age children, county and school COVID-related data, and other concerns have been reviewed in detail. This is a challenging time with no easy solutions.
Earlier in the meeting the board heard from Dr. Jen Freiheit, the county’s public health officer, about the state of COVID-19 in Kenosha County. She acknowledged the hard work schools are putting in to control COVID-19 spread.
“Each school district has done an amazing job,” Freiheit said.
However, Freiheit also pointed out the largest gatherings in the county right now are schools.
“It’s our largest sector with the most involvement,” Freiheit said.
Earlier this month, Freiheit said she is strongly recommending that all schools within the county — K-12, colleges, and universities — switch to virtual instruction only between Nov. 23 and Jan. 4. The recommendation comes in the wake of mounting cases of COVID-19 here.
Twin Lakes #4 School District (Lakewood School) is the only other Western Kenosha County school district to follow the county’s recommendation to move to virtual learning until early January.
