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Protestors walked along Water St. before the May 10 school board meeting. They were locked out of the building before the meeting began. (Metro Wire photo)

District closes Bliss from public minutes before Monday meeting

By Brandi Makuski

About 70 area residents joined outside of the Bliss Educational Services Center on Monday night to deliver a message to the school board: make masks in schools optional.

Their plans were upended before the meeting even started. Brock Maddox, one of the event organizers, said when he arrived at Bliss on May 10 there were Stevens Point police officers stationed at the front door, which was adorned with a sign.

“The Bliss Center is not available for public attendance of the board meeting,” the sign read. “To view a live stream of the meeting, members of the public are directed to the Ben Franklin auditorium (enter through the front door).”

No announcement about the closure or relocation was posted to the district’s social media page, website, or distributed to the media.

Assistant Chief Bob Kussow from the Stevens Point Police Department was in attendance with three of his officers to ensure the protest remained peaceful.

“We are not citing or arresting anyone who wants to enter without a mask, but there’s actually a sign on the door that says the building is closed,” Kussow said.

When he saw the sign, Maddox said he was “very disappointed, alarmed, concerned” when he saw the sign announcing that Bliss was closed. He and others in attendance felt the closure was not only a violation of the public trust but also a clear violation of the Wisconsin Open Meeting Law.

Superintendent Craig Gerlach did not immediately reply to a request for more information behind the closure, but an email from Cory Hirsbrunner, assistant superintendent, explained some of the thinking of the part of the district.

“The decision was made due to information provided to the district that individuals were planning to attend the meeting unmasked which does not follow district guidelines and this has caused a disruption. We provided access to the meeting at Ben Franklin Jr. High School, which meets requirements statutorily,” she wrote.

Shortly after bringing the May 10 board meeting to order, Board President Meg Erler said the mask mandate issued by Gerlach in June was still in effect.

“Today, the superintendent received communications from several individuals indicating that people were planning on attending our meeting this evening believing that our mask policy is voluntary, not mandatory, and we not intending to wear masks,” Erler said. “We have provided accommodation to the public at Ben Franklin where they are able to access our meeting in full in the interest of safety. Due to the fact we are providing remote access this evening, we are waiving public comment. Under Wisconsin law, we are allowed, as a board, to allow public comment at our meetings. Within our policy, we do so with respect to agenda items. However, due to the unique circumstances this evening, we will be waiving public comments in person.”

Maddox and others in attendance said they planned to file complaints with the Portage Co. District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday.

This story is developing