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School Districts Go Virtual Only Due To Rise In Community Covid-19 Cases

(CBS DETROIT)- Last week Wayne County was put in a Covid-19 risk level "E" category by the County Health Division, which is the highest risk level on the department's Guidance for In-Person Instruction chart.

Due to this, official's with the Grosse Pointe School District decided to cancel in-person instruction and begin on-line only starting today.

"We felt it was time for us to take a two week pause it gives us an opportunity to kinda get everybody back out of quarantine, our teachers some of our students will be out of quarantine by then" Said Dr. Gary Niehaus, Superintendent Grosse Pointe Schools

Dr. Niehaus, says he doesn't know if any students or staff have tested positive for Covid, but says several are in quarantine due to exposure. This has cause major staffing issues in his district, as well in the Troy School District which will also go virtual only starting Monday November 9th.

In a letter sent to parents last week the district says…

"We continue to have major staffing issues, expanding past the high schools into our elementary schools, and it's only a matter of time before it substantially affects our middle schools as well. We simply do not have enough substitutes to cover our teachers and staff who are self-quarantining due to exposure to the virus." From Troy School District

The district made the decision after the Oakland County Health Department also reported a higher community spread.

Dr. Niehaus encouraging people to follow safety protocols.

"We're on kind of that second wave and we've really gotta do our job to curtail it, and get it back to where it was before so we can get busy and get back to school again.

 

Both Troy and Grosse Pointe school districts will be remote only for the next two weeks. The week of November 23 they will both evaluate Covid-19 cases within the community, and decide whether or not to extend viral learning.

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