WINONA, Minn.—The possibility of going again to online learning or shutting down Winna schools because of the CoVid resurgence is remote, said spokesperson John Caper. Schools in La Crescent, Rochester and St. Charles have made temporary switches to remote learning due to staff shortages this month. But Casper noted here are many ripple effects in doing so. One effect, he said, is that many health-care workers start miss working to take care of their children at home. The Winona policy seems better for community needs, he said. “There are many health-care workers who send their kids here,” Casper said in a KWNO interview. “We know how important it is for them to stay on their jobs to keep others in our community healthy.” At the same time, Casper said he could envision a situation — remote that it be — when a school would need to be closed briefly. “If we ran into a situation where we were not able to safely open a building because we simply don’t have enough staff to do it, we would look at closing for a day or two,” said Casper. So far, he said, school principals have managed to cover staffing gaps.
