Author: Sam Buisman

Governor Tony Evers says that he does not plan to order Wisconsin schools to begin the school year online. 

In a press conference, Evers told reporters that he does not intend to use his powers as governor to mandate Wisconsin K-12 schools to re-open virtually this fall, noting that most Wisconsin school districts are planning to offer a virtual option. Such a plan would give flexibility at a potential cost to safety to Wisconsin schools as they strategize how to restart classes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the press conference, Evers said that he does not think such an order would be necessary as most Wisconsin schools are giving students the option to take their classes online.

“A handful of larger districts are going virtual only,” said Evers, “but the vast majority of school districts in the state are not large, and they're looking at all sorts of different options.”

Evers said that he does not have empirics on how many Wisconsin schools are planning to re-open virtually. 

The governor has recently taken other actions similar in their statewide scope to curb the spread of COVID-19, including his mandatory indoor mask order that went into effect this past Saturday. 

In Madison, the Madison Metropolitan School District decided last month that all of its schools will begin the year online. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, there have been 56,056 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. Of these cases, 4,258 have been in Dane County.