Eau Claire school board opens meeting to in-person attendees

Jul. 18—EAU CLAIRE — For the first time in 15 months, the Eau Claire school board will open its meeting tonight to in-person attendees.

The meeting is slated for the district administration building, 500 Main St., in board room 137 at 7 p.m., according to meeting materials.

Face masks will be optional for people who are vaccinated against COVID-19. The school board is asking unvaccinated people to wear masks, said school board President Tim Nordin.

Like other governing bodies in the Chippewa Valley, the school board in April 2020 moved its meetings online, concerned about the spread of COVID-19.

For months the board and community members have attended meetings and offered comments remotely via computers, tablets and smartphones, using an online portal and a toll-free phone number.

In recent months as vaccination rates have increased, some school board members and school administrators have begun to attend the twice-monthly meetings in person, though members of the public have still been limited to attending remotely.

This evening the board meeting will be open for the public to attend in person, according to meeting materials — though the district will also offer a fully virtual option for people who want to watch the meeting online or listen via phone.

People who want to speak during the public comment portion of tonight's meeting can sign up either virtually or at the administration building between 6:30 and 6:55 p.m., Nordin said.

The school board typically meets on the first and third Monday of the month. It is the first of Eau Claire's larger governing bodies to reopen its meetings to in-person public attendance.

The Eau Claire City Council has begun discussions about returning to normal meetings, but has not yet made the move to do so. The council's ability to use online videoconferencing to run meetings is set to expire on Aug. 10.

The Eau Claire County Board is scheduled to continue holding remote meetings until at least Sept. 1.

On the Eau Claire school board's Monday agenda:

* The board is slated to vote on several changes to the district's employee handbook. One proposed policy indicates that some employees could work remotely occasionally with written approval, though employees will be expected to work "primarily in person," according to the district. "We really felt we needed to be proactive in having some language that addressed remote work, considering many employees just came off a year and three months of working remotely," executive director of human resources Kay Marks said in June.

* The other proposed changes include changes in wages for some seasonal employees, expectations for teachers on emergency school closure days, updating how employees can access their personnel file and a slight change to employee retirement benefits, among others.

* The board will review a minor change to the district's contract with McKinley Charter School. If it approves, the charter school will give preference to current students' siblings in the yearly enrollment process.

* The board is set to vote on renewing the district's insurance policies for the 2021-22 school year.

Leader-Telegram reporter Andrew Dowd contributed to this report.