Wrenshall finds a way to avoid federal vax mandate, elects Bergman chair

​​While businesses sweat out a pending Supreme Court decision on Covid-19 vaccine mandates, the Wrenshall school board found and took advantage of a loophole Monday night. At its first regular meeting of the year, board members voted to not include themselves as employees of the district, putting it below the 100-employee threshold for the mandate called for by President Joe Biden. Before Monday, Wrenshall’s employee count was 101.

The Minnesota School Boards Association has been prepping districts across the state to put policies in place that would adhere to a mandate should it survive the court challenge. In short, districts will need to have vaccinated employees, or test them weekly if they remain unvaccinated.

Wrenshall, like districts across the region and country, has seen an uptick in Covid cases. It closed its pre-K through grade 12 school early before Christmas because of the outbreak. It triggered a mask policy on the campus as the rate of people with positive tests went over the 5-percent mark.

“The numbers are high,” superintendent Kim Belcastro said Wednesday.

The district does not have a plan in place for distance learning, as it did last year, so it would likely have to gut out the current case spike or shut down. This week, more schools, especially in the Twin Cities area, have gone to distance learning because case counts have crippled staffing.

The board on Monday voted to increase daily substitute teacher pay to $150 from $115. Districts across the county have been competing for badly needed subs as staff members are out with Covid. The $150 is on par with increases in other area districts.

The Wrenshall board also made an adjustment to its quarantine policy, shortening it, depending on the circumstances around positive test results and Covid symptoms.

Wrenshall isn’t alone. Belcastro was among county superintendents meeting this week to talk about Covid-19 issues. They decided to cancel an in-person gathering of area educators on Jan. 17. Positive cases on the Carlton boys basketball team meant that the annual “jug” game scheduled for this week will take place in February.

At its organizational meeting last week, the board named Misty Bergman as chairwoman, replacing Jack Eudy. Cindy Bourn, named to the board this past fall to replace now-principal Michelle Blanchard, is serving as vice chairwoman. The six-member board remains shorthanded as Alice Kloepfer continues to recover from Covid-19. She is on the mend, it was reported Monday, out of intensive care and recovering in a care facility.