SAGINAW, MI - Some mid-Michigan school districts are temporarily closing because of staff shortages driven in part by coronavirus quarantine measures.
Current guidelines from the Bay County Health Department and others recommend that individuals in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 should quarantine themselves for 14 days from when they were last exposed. Exposures in and outside of school environments, as well as a shortage of substitute teachers and staff, are making it difficult for some districts to stay open.
Ithaca Public Schools in Gratiot County announced Sunday, Nov. 8, it would close the next day because too many staff were in mandatory quarantine. On Monday, the district announced it will switch to remote learning through Monday, Nov. 30.
“This decision was made not because of an outbreak at school, but because of the number of contacts affecting our staff who need to be quarantined,” said Interim Superintendent Sarah Kettelhohn in the letter. “We felt it was not safe or educationally sound to stay face-to-face due to the number of staff quarantined and lack of substitute staffing needed for our student population.”
In Isabella County, Shepherd Public School District made a similar announcement, first moving this week’s classes to remote learning and then on Tuesday extending that decision through Friday, Nov. 27. In a message to the community, Superintendent Greg McMillan said most of the student and staff exposures occurred off-campus and outside of the district’s control. The district has also had an “extremely difficult, if not impossible” time finding certified substitute teachers to keep classes running.
“We apologize for this inconvenience, but we are not alone in this struggle, in this fight, to continue to provide a quality education to our students,” McMillan said in his letter. “Many of our neighboring districts are experiencing the same influx of Covid 19 (sic) exposed staff members and students.”
Mount Pleasant Public Schools, another Isabella County district, canceled class Monday because of “staffing concerns in multiple departments.” Gladwin County’s Beaverton Schools is keeping things running, with the exception of 7th grade classes and three classrooms for younger students, after a positive case among a staff member and other potential exposures.
Tuscola County’s Millington Community Schools announced Tuesday that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, with close contacts among students and faculty asked to begin quarantine. As a precaution, the district is moving to remote learning for the rest of the week, according to a letter from Superintendent Lawrence Kroswek.
Two Saginaw County districts, St. Charles Community Schools and Bridgeport-Spaulding Community Schools, moved to remote learning last week through the end of November in part because of student and staff exposures. Saginaw Public Schools nixed a planned move to start hybrid classes after community transmission spiked in the county.
Hemlock Public School District, the first in Saginaw County to return to in-person classes this year, put out a call for more substitute staff Tuesday, stating the 14-day recommended quarantine has caused some disruptions in its services. These include canceling two bus routes for a day, custodians working overtime and limited staff for food service. The district is looking for substitutes for “nearly all positions,” according to the post.
In Bay County, three schools with in-person classes switched to online briefly in late October because of COVID-19 exposures, two of which belonged to Bay City Public Schools. With the county now reaching a positive test rate of more than 11% this week, BCPS this week decided to switch back to remote learning until 2021.
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Read more:
Bay City Public Schools switches to remote learning as county turns ‘high risk’ for coronavirus
Saginaw Public Schools approves plan to continue remote learning until January 2021
3 Bay County schools go online after some students, staff enter coronavirus quarantine
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November 11, 2020 at 02:09AM
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Too many staff in quarantine forces temporary closure of some mid-Michigan school districts - MLive.com
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