MARQUETTE, MI-- Marquette Area Public Schools officials continue to forge a back-to-school plan that makes the health and safety of students, teachers and staff the biggest priority.
At a school board meeting Wednesday morning Superintendent Bill Saunders went over details of a multi-tiered plan that includes face-to-face instruction, online classes and a hybrid of both. He said most of the parents who contacted him indicated they wanted some form of online learning and the MAPS district was one of the only ones in the state to offer a hybrid option.
Under the plan every student will get a Chromebook. Information technology specialists will work with families to make sure internet access is available.
Saunders says teachers and administration are trying to make instruction work for all families.
“What we’ve tried to do is come up with a system that allows for parent choice, to be able to make that decision. Here’s 100 percent virtual for those parents that want it; here’s a hybrid for those parents that want that; and here’s a face-to-face for those parents that want that. So we’re not forcing anybody to come back face-to-face,” he says.
Parents have until August 19 to return a survey indicating if they want some form of online learning. The number of students who take classes online will also determine the spacing of desks in classrooms in an effort to socially distance.
The back-to-school plan already mandates the wearing of masks by all K-12 students and staff unless they’re eating or on breaks outdoors if they’re socially distanced. Hygiene protocols, including hand washing, a cleaning schedule, and the use of hand sanitizer and wipes are in place. Officials are also seeking permission from parents to perform temperature checks on students.
Dr. Francis Darr, a pediatrician with UPHS-Marquette, says the district needs to rely on science for its decision-making process instead of “armchair quarterbacks” who are trying to make sense of health data.
“That’s inevitable and I think appropriate for people to do to a certain extent; however, I think we also need to listen to the epidemiologists and the public health experts and rely on their expertise,” he says.
Saunders says the school plan is a living document that can be amended at any time according to student or teacher needs.
Officials expect to have a tiered plan in place by September 8.
