West Michigan counties not currently requiring close contact quarantine for students
For now, the decisions rest with each school district, said Teresa Branson, deputy health officer with the Kent County Health Department. Author: 13 ON YOUR SIDE Staff Published: 8:51 PM EDT May 7, 2021 Updated: 8:51 PM EDT May 7, 2021
MICHIGAN, USA Health departments in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon and Ionia counties announced Friday that they were not issuing orders requiring close contact students to quarantine for the time being.
After consulting with the state health department, local health officials said they were informed that student quarantine was no longer covered by state law.
For now, the decisions rest with each school district, said Teresa Branson, deputy health officer with the Kent County Health Department.
A lot of Michigan students won’t be taking the standardized tests, which are given in grades 3-8 and 11. Because of the pandemic, many families are being given an option by districts to take the normally mandatory test, or just say no.
The result will not only mean far fewer test-takers, but far less useful data emerging from the scores.
Districts are in the midst of testing, with makeup dates available through early May. It will be weeks before there is a clear picture of how many took the tests, but school officials who spoke to Bridge Michigan said they anticipate a large dropoff from the about 700,000 who took the tests in 2019.