Kalamazoo Public Schools will remain virtual despite strong pushback from some parents
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
Posted Feb 25, 2021
Kalamazoo Public School recommitted its decision to finish the school year virtually in a board Feb. 25 meeting despite strong pushback from some parents. (MLive file photo)Kendall Warner | MLive.com
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KALAMAZOO, MI – Michael Coats says his child was a straight-A student before the coronavirus pandemic.
But now, as Kalamazoo Public Schools continues online-only learning for almost a year, Coats has watched his straight-A student’s grades drop dramatically, he said.
“The reality is, the lack of in-person education and a lack of socialization is having a devastating effect on our children,” Coats said during public comment of a Feb. 25 Kalamazoo school board meeting.
Spiders close library, in-person learning returns: Ann Arbor top headlines Feb. 20-25
Updated Feb 26, 2021;
Here is that headline and some more you might have missed this week.
The University of Michigan’s Shapiro Undergraduate Library was temporarily closed after venomous spiders were found in the building.
Three Mediterranean recluse spiders were found in the library’s basement storage areas in late January, university spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said. The spiders were not in any public spaces, Broekhuizen said, and the library was closed on Sunday, Feb. 21, and Monday, Feb. 22.
Ann Arbor Public Schools students will begin returning to the classroom in a hybrid learning format beginning March 25.
Parents hope Ann Arbor can deliver on intent to offer 5 days of in-person school this fall
Updated Feb 26, 2021;
Posted Feb 26, 2021
Abbott Elementary student Lia Jewell, 8, learns remotely at Peace Neighborhood Center, 1111 N. Maple Rd. in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.
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ANN ARBOR, MI - As an associate professor at the University of Michigan with some experience teaching in the hybrid format this year, Sara Soderstrom understands what public school teachers are going through in balancing remote and in-person learning.
Knowing the importance of the in-person experience, though, Soderstrom held off on sending her youngest son to an early kindergarten program this fall, deciding instead to wait a year to enroll him in kindergarten as progress toward teacher vaccinations and reducing community spread of COVID-19 continue.
Credit Caroline Llanes / Michigan Radio
After weeks of deliberation and discussion, Ann Arbor Public Schools has set dates for a return to in-person learning, the first of which is March 25. The plan is a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning, and families still have an entirely virtual option if that is what they prefer.
During the school board meeting, which took place at noon on Wednesday, the board voted 6-0 to approve the plan. Trustee Ernesto Querijero abstained, due to concerns about the time change for the meeting being in violation of the board s bylaws.
This decision comes days after Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor and several members of city council wrote a letter to the school board, asking the board to establish an in-person learning plan and date of return.