As we reported yesterday, the Manitowoc Public School District Board of Education met Tuesday night and approved the first phase of their return to school plan.
We spoke with Superintendent Mark Holzman, who explained what Phase One entails. He explained, “Basically, Phase One allows our students who need to have some students who need additional testing for IEP’s [to take them]. There will be some quiet study areas at Lincoln High School and the Stangel building for McKinley and our alternative students. And our Winter Sports, all of them will begin the first protocols of practicing on Monday. “
IEP’s, or Individual Education Programs, are used to determine if students need additional attention in the classroom. Holzman said, “Our staff will be working with families who are in that scenario to do some one on one testing and those individuals will then be determined if they have a specific eligibility for programs within the Manitowoc Public School District.”
As far as athletics are concerned, Holzman said that the students need to turn in paperwork, and physicals before they start practice on Monday. Even then “I don’t anticipate any contests until our conference [meets], and that won’t be until after the first of the year.”
While not all students will return, this is at least a good first step toward the reintegration of students into the in-person learning model that has been proven to work better than any virtual model.
