Saturday, October 12, 2024
By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent
DE PERE – School board members from De Pere got a primer from the district lawyer on how to respond to some of the questions they’re being peppered with from parents of students.
“There were some things on social media and we were like, ‘Why is this taking on a life of its own?’” said President David Youngquist at the Monday, May 3, board meeting.
Superintendent Ben Villarruel said he’s received calls from parents wondering if, in the fall, the school district would continue to mandate masks or require vaccinations.
State statute empowers school districts to do all things necessary to promote the cause of education and protect the health and safety of students, said Robert Burns, the district’s attorney.
“A school board may adopt reasonable rules for a person who enters into or remains in school buildings, like social distancing, face coverings, partitions and whatever reasonable steps might be that are taken,” Burns said.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court in March overturned Gov. Tony Evers’s renewal of the statewide health emergency order, which included face coverings.
De Pere’s expired Wednesday.
Villarruel asked for clarification as to how this affects the school district.
In other words, he wanted to know if the district is within its legal rights to ask students to wear face coverings.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decision dealt exclusively with the governor’s powers, not with local entities’ powers, Burns said.
“It did not outlaw face coverings,” he said. “It did not say local governments and local entities, whether health departments or school districts are prevented from enacting their own rules. (It) does nothing to remove or abrogate your power as a school authorized to govern your premises and the students within for that purpose.”
Board member Dan Van Straten said he’s heard comments from parents the district requiring students to wear masks is akin to practicing medicine without a license.
Burns said there’s no legal basis for that claim.
“It’s no different than requiring that students wear shoes in school or safety equipment in classrooms,” he said.
De Pere students can expect to wear face coverings for the rest of the school year.
Youngquist asked about exemptions to the mask policy and what role offering virtual learning options might play in them.
“You would be within your rights to provide a virtual option in response to an exemption request,” Burns said. “By doing so, offering virtual education, you’re respecting the basis of the exemption, but you’re doing that by providing the alternative, which is the balancing act between not creating a potential threat to the health and welfare to others in the school setting and still allowing that student to not wear a mask and participate.”
As for vaccinations, the district won’t be mandating students have the coronavirus vaccine anytime soon.
Even if it wanted to, it doesn’t have the authority.
However, the state may.
De Pere Health Department Public Health Officer Sara Lornson said this week no coronavirus vaccinations have been approved for children, although Pfizer’s is expected to be approved for kids ages 12 to 15 by the end of the month.
The issue of immunizations is in a different category than masks, Burns said.
It’s controlled by state statute, under Chapter 252, and is a matter of statewide public policy.
“There are certain immunizations that are required under that statute like polio and measles and several others,” she said.
Chapter 252.04(1) reads, “The department shall carry out a statewide immunization program to eliminate mumps, measles, rubella (German measles), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis and other diseases that the department specifies by rule, and to protect against tetanus.”
In some cases, waivers can be requested for reasons of health, religion, or personal conviction.
Burns said putting such a requirement in place “would not be done by an individual school district.”
He said the reason parents are asked to provide immunization records to a school district when registering their children is that it’s required by state statute.
“You are required to maintain records of the immunizations so it can be established that you have complied with the law,” Burns said. “Those are requirements that are put onto the school district under those laws in the Department of Health Services… Those are all obligations you have as a district to record, but you aren’t making that requirement; you are complying with the law. It’s your job to more or less police it on behalf of the state.”
