It's been more than three months since Michigan parents and students got word that school buildings were closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. The scramble to keep schooling going in the short term has subsided, and is moving into longer terms plans for education in the world of COVID-19.
Students across Michigan will resume their education this fall under conditions laid out in a Return to School Roadmap released Tuesday. But the actual conditions of a restart remain up in the air.
How does the plan work?
The plan is being governed by the six-phase Michigan's Safe Start Plan, which tracks the severity of the pandemic in Michigan. Different phases have governed the level of openness around Michigan, and will be used to guide the school plan as well. So the start of school in the fall will be determined by what phase Michigan is in at that time.
- If Michigan is in Phase 1 through 3 when it's time for school to start back up, buildings will not reopen for in-person instruction.
- If Michigan is in Phase 4 by that time, as it is right now, schools will open with stringent safety rules.
- These rules would lower further if Michigan were in Phase 5 or Phase 6 of the Michigan Safe Start Plan.
School districts will have the ability to implement stricter requirements than the state, and to close school buildings even if they have not been mandated to do so.
Each phase comes with a set of both required and recommended safety protocols. For example, a Phase 4 reopening would require staff to wear masks at all times except meals, students would wear masks during transportation to and from school and while walking the hallways.
County planning
St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency Superintendent Kevin Miller said districts throughout the county are working on devising three different plans depending on the severity of the pandemic.There's a plan if the state is anywhere between Phase 1 and 3, another plan for Phase 4 and another plan for Phase 5.
If Michigan Safe Start is in Phase 1-3 when school starts back up, the plan would be entirely virtual as students are not able to return to in-person schooling under those conditions.
"The Phase 3 plan is almost an addendum to what we had this spring, when we were doing entirely virtual teaching," Miller said. "And there would be a lot of things that we would do additional in the fall because we have more time to prepare now."
Other plans have been developed for opening school during Phase 4 and Phase 5 scenarios.
Miller said they have been in touch with the St. Clair County Health Department on a regular basis throughout the pandemic, and working together to plan for the fall.
Miller urged patience in the face of a quickly evolving situation.
Superintendents speak
Yale Public Schools Superintendent Ken Nicholl said, as of now, the district is preparing to return to in-person classes this fall. But returning to face-to-face education in the beginning isn't a guarantee things will stay that way.
"Just as the Governor indicated in her presentation, the schools have to flexible and they need to know that this could be a sliding scale forward and backward," Nicholl said. "So we recognize that we're going to have to remain flexible but we're very optimistic that things are moving towards face-to-face instruction."
The state's plan contains many required provisions, but also recommendations that are not required.
"(The Roadmap) removes it from what we anticipate and what we expected into what we need to do," he said.
Yale Public Schools has also convened a return to school committee, which includes employees from across the staff groups and administration. The district will work through the recommended items and decide what can or should be implemented in the district.
"Space desks six feet apart in the classrooms, that's a strong recommendation," Nicholl said. "I don't know that we are physically able to do that with our current staffing."
Marysville Public Schools Superintendent Shawn Wightman said districts in the county are coordinating to come up with a similar-looking plan, aiming for consistency.
Wightman said he is concerned about implementation of the roadmap considering a revenue decline for school districts.
Memphis Community Schools Superintendent Brad Gudme said the district was ready in case of an all-online opening, but was hoping for a Phase 5 opening, which would require lighter adjustments to the district. A Phase 4 opening would present challenges to the district.
"Trying to get all students and all staff to wear face masks nonstop, that's going to be difficult," he said. "We'll make sure we're talking with parents and working with families to encourage all students to wear them at all times."
In a community update published Tuesday, Port Huron Schools Superintendent Jamie Cain said the district will be using the requirements and recommendations to guide it's own return to school advisory committee.
"The team at Port Huron Schools is already hard at work analyzing it's contents," Cain said in a written statement.
Cain said the district is looking to provide options to parents in the district, including both face-to-face and 100 percent online learning. The district's final plan is anticipated to be presented at the regular school board meeting on July 27.
Capac Community Schools Superintendent Jeff Terpening, East China School School District Superintendent Suzanne Cybulla, and Algonac Community Schools Superintendent Al Latosz did not return requests for comment.
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Contact Jeremy Ervin at (810) 989-6273 or jervin@gannett.com.Follow him on Twitter @ErvinJeremy.
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