Milwaukee Public Schools' board of directors will meet to reconsider COVID-19 protocols

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) will revisit its COVID-19 protocols for the district.

The MPS board of directors will hold a special meeting tonight, Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. 

Current data show positive cases within the city and within MPS continue to fall.

The district is considering changes, such as reducing the time of virtual learning when positive cases arise. Right now, MPS schools go virtual for 10 days if three-percent of students and teachers test positive. But the new plan would re-evaluate this window, possibly cutting it in half.

MPS is using examples from school districts in other states to demonstrate how they've handled their COVID-19 response.

MPS's weekly COVID report  from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4 shows 60 staff members and 138 students testing positive. It's a drop from the previous week.

MPS' teacher's union responded to the possible changes on Facebook:

"MTEA has been and will continue to discuss reasonable alternatives to the 10-day temporary virtual rule for schools that reach 3% positivity with MPS Administration. It is not helpful that the School Board is rushing into a decision Thursday with minimal public notice and, to our knowledge, no alternative proposal from the board member who requested the meeting." - MTEA President Amy Mizialko

Board members will also hear recommendation on quarantine policies, and a campaign to support student vaccinations.

Public comment will be accepted, but you must register before 3 p.m. today.