Shelby Review

Schools in Michigan are favoring in-school learning for the upcoming year, as the debate about whether children should return to classrooms this fall continues, according to Bridge Michigan. 

The specific plan for all schools will be announced soon, but some schools have already rolled out their own plans, many of which are pushing for their students to return to school full-time. 

All of Kent County’s 20 school districts are coming back to a full week and in-person teaching, Assistant Superintendent of Kent Intermediate School District Ron Koehler told Bridge Michigan.

Superintendent Wanda Cook-Robinson | Oakland Schools

A majority of Oakland County’s 28 school districts are also favoring that structure, along with eight districts in the West Shore Educational School District.

Wanda Cook-Robinson, superintendent of the Oakland Intermediate School District, said the district has been working on a return method for quite some time. 

“We all started with a hybrid model six weeks ago,” Cook-Robinson told Bridge Michigan. “Then we moved to full-time.” That structure is also in person.

Mike Shibler, the superintendent for Rockford Public Schools, just north of Grand Rapids, echoed similar sentiments. “The goal frankly is to have the students in front of teachers.”

Shibler’s district has roughly 8,000 students. He added that Kent County superintendents are on the same page and aim to provide in-class teaching to students if Michigan can stay at a minimum of Phase 4 reopening. That phase permits schools to reopen and doesn't call for social distancing. But if the state goes below that threshold, schools will close their doors again. 

He added that there’s no in-between for the reopening process; schools will either be completely closed or open full-time. “You have some single-parent families or families where both parents work; they gotta go to work,” Shibler told Bridge Michigan. “And it’s too confusing for anyone to come up with a schedule and remember it.”

Online learning is available for students whose parents are concerned about the potential spread of COVID-19 in the classroom.