COVID-19 continues to bring about uncertainties in people’s lives and this includes students and educators. In the article, “Whitmer’s School Plan: Students and Teachers in masks, no visitors, spaced desks, cleaning” written by Jennifer Chambers and Beth LeBlanc from the Detroit News, a plan for school districts is laid out and it is based on which phase they are in of the Michigan Safe Start Plan. If schools are in Phase 6 of the plan there will be limited safety restrictions; as expected, the lower the phase, there are more restrictions and precautions that will be taken. If schools are in Phase 3 or below, there are plans to hold the semester strictly remote or online. Currently Detroit is in Phase 4 of the Safe Start Plan which means, “Schools open for in-person instruction with more stringent required safety protocols”. I graduated from the largest school in the Detroit Public Community School District so this issue hits pretty close to home. During the 2018-2019 school year there were almost 2500 students enrolled. Many of the classes had a capacity of 30-40 students, and in some cases there was barely enough space to walk. Simply put, the social distancing requirement of six feet would be impossible.
Not all schools in the DPSCD occupy over 2000 students but small classroom spaces and overcrowding is a common issue. It does not take a researcher to question if hosting that many students at the same time under those physical circumstances is feasible. It will take more money, staff, and resources to accommodate all of the necessary changes to take place and it is no doubt that it will be difficult. Of course, safety of the students and faculty is the priority so it is my hope that a fair compromise is created that not only protects the health of everyone involved, but also allows for students to be given a quality education for the 2020-21 school year.
The article says that $256 million, out of a $2.2 billion budget deal agreed upon Governor Whitmer and legislature, will go toward school districts to implement local plans. I am curious to know how the funds will be dispersed between districts. Seeing as though some districts will have fewer restrictions and/or will have more or less students to account for I can only assume that it’ll be handled on a case by case basis. COVID-19 has no doubt put a strain on everyone in the state, but it is important to identify districts as unique and assess the impact covid has had through separate lenses.
Hey Kira,
This is a very interesting topic to think about really given the already stretched too thin Detroit Public School system in general. Like you mentioned it will be virtually impossible to implement safe practices for everyone involved. I was also seeing/hearing the possibility of having children go to school on alternate days of the week to cut down class size to allow for social distancing measures. This kinda makes sense but it still puts burdens on families in other sectors being that parents will have to find childcare for those days and have to purchase more food to supplement school lunch programs. It’s just so many possibilities that all need to be evaluated thoroughly before jumping into it too fast.