Dear Friends,

I hope you are well. As expected, the Center for Disease Control confirmed there was not an outbreak of COVID-19 during the April election. Governor Evers tried multiple times to move the election, even after he said it would be illegal to do so.

The election went on and was safe. Many people voted early and the poll workers did a great job making sure voters social distanced and items were sanitized. That's great news and encouraging for the upcoming August primary and fall elections. Wisconsin proved we can hold safe elections and we can do it again.

With the school year rapidly approaching, our districts are proposing different ways to keep students and teachers safe. Check below for more information on what school-aged kids in our area can expect this fall. Also, there's updated information on our state's battle against COVID-19.

As always, if you have any concerns or ideas on how to improve our great state, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 608-266-5830 or by email at Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov.

On, Wisconsin!

Here is a quick summary of the back-to-school plans for our local districts.

Brown Deer: Families will have the option to choose between virtual learning or a five-phase gradual return to face-to-face learning.

Foxpoint-Bayside: The district will use a hybrid model with students having in school instruction twice a week and virtual instruction twice a week with unstructured learning on Fridays. Kindergarten will be in school four days a week.

Germantown: Parents will be able to pick between face-to-face instruction or virtual learning.

Grafton: Students will have the option of virtual learning or face-to-face instruction with social distancing.

Hamilton: Families will have the option to choose in-person or virtual instruction.

Menomonee Falls: Students will choose between all virtual instruction or a hybrid option depending on attendance and health data.

Milwaukee Public Schools: Is only offering virtual school.

Nicolet Union High School District: School will begin with virtual learning.

For more details on district plans, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel compiled a list of area schools and their status. You can find that article here.

The table above contains data reported on August 5, 2020 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services on coronavirus cases in our area.

According to data from the Center for Disease Control, emergency room visits for COVID-19 symptoms are under two percent.

Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker