Port Huron, MI — At a meeting Monday night, the Port Huron Schools Board of Education voted to keep its schools 100% remote for Pre-K – 12. They plan to re-evaluate the situation in a special meeting next week.
School Superintendent Jamie Cain said in a letter to parents that daily Zoom classes will continue and all coursework will be posted in Schoology. Students who are enrolled in the district’s virtual program will be unaffected.
In November of 2020, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) paused in-person learning in high schools because of a spike in COVID-19 cases. They reinstated in-person classes on December 21, 2020, but many school districts chose to continue instruction remotely.
In January, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her administration set a goal to have all Michigan students transitioned to face-to-face learning by March 1st or earlier. She reported in a February 24, 2021 press release that 85% of Michigan school districts were back to in-person learning and by March 1, 2021 97% of districts would be in-person.
Cases of COVID-19 in Michigan have been increasing since March 1st, partially due to cases among school-aged children and their families. An April 16th extension of the MDHHS Epidemic Order, stated that “as of April 8, local health departments [in Michigan] had reported 312 new and ongoing outbreaks among K-12 schools.”
Each school district in Michigan is responsible for coordinating with their local health departments and officials to determine the safest way to educate their students.
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
