DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Public Schools Community District is temporarily suspending all face-to-face in-school instruction.
All classes will be held online starting Monday, Nov. 16 due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.
The district said face-to-face learning and learning centers will remain open Thursday and Friday to provide families time to rearrange educational support for students.
The suspension will be in effect until January 11, with the district saying it will consider reopening learning centers before that date if positive rates in the city improves.
“The District relied on science and the data to reopen schools for in person learning this summer and fall and relied on the same criterium to decide that it was no longer safe for our students and employees to work in an in person school environment. Without a vaccine, we will remain accountable to that 5-7 percent infection rate,” DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said in a press release. “I am remarkably proud of District staff, principals and school level staff who have stayed faithful to our COVID-19 safety strategies. This has allowed us to keep schools open for in person learning and access to our learning centers with a limited number of outbreaks as compared to other districts and schools throughout the state. Despite the reality of COVID-19, we have been able to keep employees and students safe and serve them directly if their families needed that level of support. As we have been doing throughout this pandemic, we will continue to adjust to serve our students and families by expanding direct technology support for families while also continuing to feed students.”
All district schools will remain open for now to support families and students through the deployment of additional device and educational materials, technology support, phone calls, serving meals, and any medical support through nurses.
Three meals will be distributed on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and four meals on Thursdays during the same timeframe.
Beginning December 1, the district will also open 12 Technology Hubs across the city to provide families with face-to-face technology support for online learning, device repair and replacement. The district will also begin to provide COVID-19 testing at designated locations for families, students, and staff.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
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