De Pere's new superintendent starts July 1. Here's his thoughts on keeping schools open during the pandemic
DE PERE - Christopher Thompson and his wife always wanted to come back to De Pere after graduating from St. Norbert College. When the search for De Pere's next superintendent opened, Thompson knew now was his chance.
When Thompson takes over the district in July, attention will be on him as many parents are looking at how leaders are handling the pandemic in schools.
“It's about keeping kids in the classroom as much as possible right now," he said. "It's finding ways and solutions to do that. Then, if you do have a time where you have to close temporarily, you could say, 'But the goal is to get back and here's how.'"
COVID-19 cases and staff shortages have been surging in schools due to the omicron variant, with the school board revisiting masks and quarantine policies numerous times over the past two years.
The De Pere district is no exception. Last Thursday, the number of cases among De Pere students peaked at 201, the most so far this school year.
In a meeting Monday, De Pere's school board voted to keep the current mask mandate for grades 4K-6. The board also updated the district's isolation and quarantine policy to five days, keeping it in line with new guidelines recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On a positive note, De Pere has been leading school district zones in the Green Bay area for its high vaccination rates.
Thompson said the best way to guide the district through this pandemic is to be open about the decision-making process.
“You're not going to have everybody be happy at all times, but at least getting back to people, doing what you say you're going to do, being transparent about it, having it posted publicly on your website and then referencing that,” he said.
Ultimately, the decisions to support teachers and students should strive to keep schools open, he said.
When Thompson considered coming to De Pere, what stood out to him about the district was its response intervention work for students who are struggling academically; its science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workshops in elementary schools; and the Advanced Placement and dual-credit classes available.
"It's good work. That's the right work. It's what needs to be happening," he said.
He has been the superintendent of the Rosholt School District in Portage County since 2019, where he was previously the assistant superintendent and an elementary principal. He was the executive director of curriculum and instruction in the Racine Unified School District before going to Rosholt.
With his background as a curriculum director, Thompson hopes to focus on staff development and ways to support a strong standards-based curriculum.
But he said he will let De Pere’s staff and students guide his focus as he steps into the new role.
"Staff are willing to go quite a ways for you when you spend time listening to them and then find ways to do some of the things that you collaborated on together," he said.
Thompson will be replacing Ben Villarruel, who is retiring after 21 years with the district.
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Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Chris Thompson becomes De Pere superintendent in July
