MPS will require masks when COVID levels are high, based on county cases and hospital stays
After posting a mask policy proposal that went against guidance from health officials, Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent presented a different policy to the school board Thursday that fell in line with the guidance.
Going forward, MPS staff and students will be required to wear masks when Milwaukee County has a "high" COVID level, as determined by the CDC based on the number of cases and hospital usage. Masks will otherwise be optional.
The county currently is at a high COVID level, according to the Milwaukee Health Department COVID dashboard. Residents can keep tabs on the level by looking at the "community level" box on that dashboard, which is updated every Thursday evening.
MPS had previously shared a proposal that rejected advice from Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kristen Johnson to use the CDC metrics to measure COVID levels. The district had planned to use the test positivity rate for the city as the sole number informing the policy. On Thursday, they switched to the CDC metrics.
By either measure, the current COVID numbers would put the district under the mask requirement.
Johnson said it was important to consider hospitalization data, in part because future COVID variants could spread less easily but cause more severe illness.
"From my perspective, I want to reduce severe illness, hospitalizations and death," Johnson said. “We need to use the mitigation tools we have, which masking is one, to keep our kids in school. To me that is most important, that our schools are open.”
Superintendent Keith Posley said he does not plan to close school buildings in the next school year based on COVID cases, though staff shortages from quarantines could cause temporary closures and transitions to virtual learning.
Students and staff who test positive for COVID will need to quarantine for five days, and wear masks for five days upon their return.
Posley said masks will be on-hand at all buildings for students and staff.
Though the policy was called a "recommendation" for the school board, the school board did not vote on it. Board member Megan O'Halloran noted the board had already given Posley the power to change the district's COVID policies in consultation with staff and health officials.
MPS had required masks constantly through the pandemic until this past April, when the school board gave Posley control. Students had one day without the requirement April 19 before Posley reinstated it as COVID levels rose.
O'Halloran said she was glad to see MPS and MHD "get on the same page" but added that many of her constituents wanted masks to be fully optional. She said it has become harder for her to support mask requirements as vaccines, treatments and tests have become more widely available.
"I have seen some of my constituents leave the district over the way we have handled COVID," she said. "We may have a unified...recommendation, but it is not universally loved by all of my constituents."
In a July 22 update, the health department reported about 26% of city residents ages 5-11 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 21% are fully vaccinated. Of residents 16 and older, about 65% are considered fully vaccinated, though only half of the fully vaccinated residents have received a booster dose. The update didn't include data for other age groups of children.
The health department will be providing vaccinations at its annual Back-to-School Health Fair Friday at Fiserv Forum and the Deer District, in addition to its regular walk-in clinics for anyone six months old and older. The vaccines are free of cost with no insurance needed.
Posley changes proposal after rejecting health commissioner's guidance
Last week, Posley shared a draft of his policy with Johnson on July 22, according to Emily Tau, a spokesperson for the health department.
In that document, Posley proposed that masks be required when 10% or more of COVID tests in the city come back positive in a week.
Johnson, replying within an hour of receiving the document, advised Posley against using that metric, Tau said. Johnson suggested he use the CDC's measurement of community COVID levels, which involves total case numbers and hospital admissions for COVID.
By either measure — Posley's, or the CDC's — the district would be considered in a high level of COVID presently and would require masks. But that could change moving forward.
The test positivity rate in Posley's proposal, Johnson said, was not as accurate a measure of COVID prevalence because it only counts PCR tests taken at testing sites; it does not include any at-home tests.
As at-home tests have become popular, residents now generally go to testing sites only to confirm a positive at-home result or if they are very ill, Johnson said. That means a high percentage of tests may come back positive regardless of how widespread COVID is in the community.
When MPS' proposal was posted with the agenda for Thursday's board meeting, it still had the test positivity rate as the only metric. MPS spokesman Earl Arms confirmed to the Journal Sentinel Tuesday that the district's proposal was to only consider that metric.
But at the board meeting Thursday, Posley shared a new policy in line with Johnson's advice, which is now posted online with the board agenda. Adding to the confusion, MPS Regional Superintendent Toni Dinkins read aloud numbers that didn't accurately reflect either proposal.
During the board meeting, board members confirmed with administrators that the new policy online, which does reflect the CDC metrics, is the accurate proposal. They asked for the previous proposal to be removed to avoid confusion.
Johnson also spoke at the meeting, explaining her support for moving away from relying on the test positivity rate.
"Those numbers are no longer really a good reflection of what's occurring in our community," Johnson said.
Under the new plan, in line with CDC guidance, the county is considered at a "high" level of COVID when any of the following are true for a one-week period:
There are 200 or more new COVID cases per 100,000 residents, and hospital admissions hit either of these levels:
10 or more new COVID patients admitted to the hospital for every 100,000 residents
10% or more of staffed inpatient hospital beds in the county are occupied by COVID patients
COVID case counts are lower, but hospital admissions hit either of these levels:
20 or more new COVID patients admitted to the hospital for every 100,000 residents
15% or more of staffed inpatient hospital beds in the county are occupied by COVID patients.
Other Wisconsin districts are also using the CDC metrics while some have not set a masking policy.
In Green Bay, where COVID levels are lower, district officials said if their COVID level hits 'high" on the CDC chart, there will be a special board meeting to consider implementing masks and other precautions.
For the Appleton Area School District, Superintendent Greg Hartjes said the board will be discussing their policy at upcoming meetings but plan to "closely follow" CDC guidance. Masks have been optional over the summer.
In Dane County, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that most districts, including Madison schools, plan to start the school year without a mask requirement.
And in Sheboygan, as of Wednesday, the district hadn't had any discussion about COVID protocols for the coming school year. District officials said they plan to keep masks optional.
A previous version of this story referred to Greg Hartjes as the Chief Financial Officer of the Appleton Area School District. He is now the superintendent.
USA TODAY NETWORK reporters Danielle Duclos, AnneMarie Hilton and Maya Hilty contributed to this report.
Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS will require masks when COVID levels are high, in new 2022 policy
