Dr. Wipke answers commonly asked

BURNING QUESTIONS WITH DR. WIPKE

Superintendent Dr. Wipke answers students’ most pressing questions

CAROLINE TYRRELL

news editor

illustration by | DANIELLE ZHANG

Q: What are snow days going to look like in the future now that virtual days are an option? Q : Will there be a vaccination requirement for students or teachers in the future?

A: “We have five built-in snow days, so our plan is that if we have a snow day to go ahead and let you guys have that day off. If we go over our five days we plan on doing what we call an AMI, alternate method of instruction, which in this case is online learning.” A : “We can’t require a COVID-19 vaccination. My hope is that as many people as possible will get it. What I’m more worried about right now is why it is taking so long for our teachers to get it. We can’t require a vaccination, but we strongly encourage it.”

Q: Is there a certain number of cases in which the school will have to shut down?

A: “If a school was at more than five percent of students and staff testing positive in the building, then we would have to have some serious conversations with St. Louis County Health Department about if we have to shut down or not.”

Q: What long-term effects do you think the pandemic will have on schools?

A: “I think you are going to have more opportunities because think about this: we don’t offer Mandarin, but let’s say Clayton does. We can do online classes together so that we can have Ladue kids learning Mandarin with Clayton kids.”