Colfax school board: Winter Carnival, regional wrestling and basketball schedules all changed
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The dates for Winter Carnival, regional wrestling and girls’ and boys’ regional basketball playoffs have all been rescheduled earlier than the dates published in the school district calendar to accommodate falls sports being played this spring.
The winter sports seasons are all shortened and moved up two weeks because of fall sports that will be starting March 1 and will go until the middle of April, said John Dachel, Colfax High School principal, at the Colfax Board of Education’s January 11 meeting.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts were given the option last fall of playing fall sports this spring.
Everything has been moved up so the state tournaments can take place before the fall sports begin, Dachel said.
Regional wrestling will be at Altoona on Saturday, January 30, he noted.
According to the schedule included in Dachel’s report to the school board, the first girls’ regional basketball game will be held February 9 while the regional semi-finals game will be held February 12 and the regional finals will be held February 13.
The first boys’ regional game will be played February 16, while the regional semi-finals game will be held February 19 and the regional finals will be held February 20.
Seedings, times and places will be announced later.
Winter Carnival Week, originally scheduled for February 8 to February 12, will be held the week of February 15 to February 18.
Winter Carnival will be similar to Homecoming in that there will be a few activities for the students throughout the week, with the crowing of the king and queen at the end of the school day on Thursday, February 18, Dachel said.
The sports schedules can sometimes change daily when teams have to go into quarantine because of COVID-19, said William C. Yingst Jr., school district administrator.
The sports schedule has been changed two or three times since the schedule was printed in the school calendar, he said.
“We’re hoping to be able to get all of the conference games played,” Dachel said.
The sports schedule is up to date on the school district website and is updated daily by Michael Hodel, the athletic director, he said.
The school district sign on University Avenue is updated daily as well, Dachel noted.
Yingst and Dachel both urged anyone who has questions about the sports schedules to call the school district at 715-962-3155.
Regarding other activities, the Dorian Festival and the Dunn-St. Croix Honors Band and Choir events have both been cancelled for this year, Dachel said.
The Colfax FFA Alumni Farm Toy Show the last Sunday in February also will not be held because of Dunn County indoor gathering guidelines, he said.
During his report to the school board, Trevor Hovde, principal at Colfax Elementary, reported that the National Geography Bee also has been cancelled this year.
COVID-19
The percentage of absentees among students and staff due to COVID-19 remains low in the Colfax school district, Yingst said.
Staff absences are around 3 percent, and students range from 3 to 5 percent or sometimes a bit higher, he said.
Influenza absences are also low this year. The goal is to keep influenza absences under 20 percent, Yingst said.
“We are taking it day by day and using the standards and techniques that we’ve had good success with,” he said, adding “we’re just not seeing the flu we usually see.”
Yingst said he attributed the low incidence of influenza to everyone wearing masks and particular concentration on washing hands and physical distancing.
“There are a few silver linings (with COVID),” he said.
As for the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, the school district is waiting for information on when school district personnel can be vaccinated, Yingst said.
In the meantime, Yingst said he is working on putting together a priority essential list and is concentrating on school district personnel who work closely with students.
Jaclyn Ackerlund, school board member, asked if the vaccine would be given at school or whether school staff would have to go somewhere else.
Yingst said he was hoping a vaccine clinic could be held at school.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Approved 2021 summer school programs in swimming and regular classroom instruction in all areas, including music, agriculture and Summer Saunters contingent on pandemic safety and conditions. The decision will be made later about holding summer school, and it will be held as long as it can be done safely, Yingst said. If summer school cannot be held, the agenda item will be brought back to the school board for discussion, he said.
• Approved open enrollment space availability for regular education in the 2021-2022 school year as follows: junior kindergarten (12); kindergarten (43); first grade (34); second grade (37); third grade (31); fourth grade (32); fifth grade (34); sixth grade (27); seventh grade (24); eighth grade (36); ninth grade (12); tenth grade (17); eleventh grade (28) and twelfth grade (34).
• Approved open enrollment space for special education as follows: no space available for early childhood, kindergarten through third grade, grades three through six, grades seven and eight, grades nine to twelve and functional life skills. No space is available in the contracted services as well: occupational therapy, physical therapy, deaf/hard of hearing, vision impairment, audiology and interpreter. The report to the school board notes that caseload factor numbers are determined through a formula determined by the state Superintendent’s Task Force on Caseloads in Special Education adopted in March of 2001 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
• Made no changes to the school district’s harm reduction plan that includes the wearing of masks, physical distancing, hand washing, sanitizing and disinfecting to stop or slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
• Approved updated policies on conflicts of interest for administrative staff, professional staff and support staff.