COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Protecting Our Students and Community from Coronavirus

Schools Closed

Schools Closed Until Further Notice

Dear School District of Mauston families,

The health and safety of our students and staff are always our number one priority. We are closing our school buildings under order to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus in Wisconsin. We know that keeping children at home may cause difficulties for your children and families as you juggle work, child care and other challenges, and our staff are committed to doing everything we can to help make this as positive an experience as possible for your children.

Gov. Tony Evers on March 16, 2020 ordered the closure of all K-12 Wisconsin schools, public and private, from Wednesday, March 18, 2020 indefinitely as part of the state's efforts to respond to and contain COVID-19. The announcement affects almost 855,000 students in more than 400 districts across the state - and adds Wisconsin to a growing list of states to close schools.

“Kids and families across Wisconsin often depend on our schools to access food and care," Evers said. "We are going to continue working to do everything we can to ensure kids and families have the resources and support they need while schools are closed.”

On March 17th, the School District of Mauston closed its schools to students along with all after-school activities and athletics, including practices. Beginning March 30, 2020 the School District of Mauston will move to e-Learning.

School Meals

The School District will offer drive-thru pick up of breakfast and lunch on Thursday, March 19th and Friday, March 20th at Lyndon Station Elementary School and Mauston High School. Please fillout the Food Service form to place an order for pick up. Beginning after spring break on March 30th, the District is developing plans to distribute meals in multiple locations. Breakfast and lunch will be packaged. These meals are free for all children ages birth to 18 in the District regardless of income. By completing the order form, meals will be available each weekday. To help us with planning, please complete the March 30th Food Service Order Form. For more information, please contact Erin Wermeling at (608) 847-5451, ext. 6686.

E-Learning

The School District of Mauston will begin e-Learning on March 30, 2020 for students in grades 4K-12. Even though our buildings may be closed, Mauston Schools believes it is important for students to keep learning. That is why we are moving to e-Learning, beginning March 30, 2020. On the days leading up to Spring Break, March 17-20, teachers are working to move teaching and learning online. For more information, click here.

Special Education

For students with Special Education needs, please contact our Director of Special Education/Pupil Services Director Mary O'Brien at mobrien@maustonschools.org, 608-847-5451, ext. 6602.

Symptoms of Coronavirus - fever, cough and shortness of breath

When School Resumes

The safety of our students and staff is our top priority. When school resumes, please watch for the following symptoms. Keep students home from school and contact their physician to ask to be tested for Coronavirus if they have these symptoms:

Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath

Please contact your school building secretary to report the absence and symptoms. Learn more about the symptoms and treatment of Coronavirus at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website. Those at highest risk for Coronavirus complications are older adults and individuals with compromised immune systems or heart, lung and kidney disease. See how Coronavirus is spread. It can take two to 14 days for a person to develop symptoms after initial exposure to the virus; the average is about five days.

As of 3/18/2020, we have no known cases of COVID-19 among students or staff in School District of Mauston.

We continue to closely monitor the situation with our School Nurses and the Juneau County Health Department, as well as review updates from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Department of Public Instruction and the CDC. Here is the latest information on confirmed cases in Wisconsin.

What You Can Do and Our Cleaning Measures

The School District of Mauston has a routine cleaning regimen in place to help reduce the spread of germs and communicable disease. In addition to our regular cleaning and disinfection, we are increasing the cleaning of high-touch areas and hard and soft surface items throughout the day. We will follow all guidelines of the CDC and our local and state health departments.

We all play a role in helping reduce the spread of communicable disease. We are asking our students, staff and families to practice regular preventive actions (see flyer in English, Spanish, Hmong and Mandarin Chinese) including:

Wash your hands regularly, for 20 seconds, using soap and hot water. Make sure to wash your fingertips. This is especially important after using the restroom, coughing or sneezing into your hands, and before preparing or consuming food.
Avoid coughing or sneezing into your hands or in the air. Always try to cough or sneeze into a tissue, and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue, cough/sneeze into your arm.
As much as you can, avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose.
If children are feeling sick, please keep them home from school. Families should have a plan in place for keeping your child home, picking up your child if they are sent home sick, and if schools are closed.

Travel Restrictions

This is a rapidly evolving situation, with the World Health Organization declaring Coronavirus a pandemic, the President and Governor declaring it a public health emergency and the President issuing a long bans regarding travel to and from the U.S.

The state of Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is asking schools and organizations to:

Cancel events with over 10 people
Avoid non-essential domestic travel
Avoid traveling to areas in the US with sustained community transmission of COVID-19. See map of US sustained community transmission of COVID-19.
Self-quarantine for 14 days upon return for anyone who travels to any U.S. states with confirmed community spread of COVID-19.

Many families have travel plans for spring break. If your family is planning to travel to a country with a Level 3 travel health notice, please contact the School District of Mauston at (608) 847-5451, ext. 6680 before returning to school. The CDC is asking you to self-quarantine for 14 days. Read more about travel on the CDC's website.

We appreciate your patience with this fluid situation and we will continue to update you as needed. Please rest assured that we will continue to put your students’ safety first. If you have any questions, reach out to your building principal.