TCAPS middle, high schools to remain virtual for another week
Apr. 11—TRAVERSE CITY — The wording took a while to come together, but the decision was clear.
Middle and high school students at Traverse City Area Public Schools will learn virtually for another week as cases of COVID-19 rise in Grand Traverse County. Preschool through fifth-grade students will continue classes face to face, as will all K-12 cognitively impaired students. High school students can also attend their classes at the Career-Tech Center in person.
Athletics as well as other co-curricular activities such as music, theater and robotics will go on as normal. Standardized testing — the M-STEP, PSAT and SAT — were slated to begin this week, but those will be pushed to May.
TCAPS Board of Education trustees made those moves during a special meeting Saturday. All said that April 19 is an expected return to full in-person education across the district.
Superintendent John VanWagoner informed the board that, for the week of April 5, 36 TCAPS students were COVID-19 positive — nine at Central High, 18 at West Senior High, one at TC High, three at East Middle and five at West Middle. The one-week pause of face-to-face instruction likely spared more than 500 students from being quarantined, according to data from the Grand Traverse County Health Department.
VanWagoner said now is the time to make "pleas to the public" to regain control of the pandemic.
"If people want to stay in school, we're going to have to follow these (safety precautions) and get back on track," he said. "We're only keeping ourselves from the things we and our community want for our children."
Concerns regarding learning loss for students in quarantine was a driving factor for at least one trustee. Secretary Josey Ballenger said the more than 1,000 students who were learning in quarantine before spring break was "unacceptable."
"That's more than 10 percent of our student population," Ballenger said, adding that going back face to face only risks more students having to quarantine.
Ballenger said there is a race between the spread of the virus and the vaccination rate.
"We're not out of the woods as a community," she said.
Board President Scott Newman-Bale called the debate between remaining virtual or going back in person a "very divisive issue" without an "A or B decision."
"At some point, we either have to go back face to face and deal with the quarantine issue or go virtual for an extended period of time — and I don't think any of us want to do that," he said.
Healthcare professionals have said time and time again that transmission of the virus within school walls is not common, a point several trustees mentioned. Andrew Raymond supported the continued pause but said he was concerned about transmission outside of school.
"School is a controllable environment. At school we can make sure masking is enforced," he said.
Vice President Erica Moon Mohr, who has been a strong advocate of in-person education throughout the pandemic, spoke with more than 15 physicians and healthcare providers ahead of the Saturday meeting. One said to Moon Mohr that the public is "numb to the numbers" and that case rates are far worse now than at any point of the pandemic for the Grand Traverse region.
Moon Mohr said this is the first time that she has been nervous to send her children to school. She implored the public to "do what's right," which includes wearing a mask and avoiding large group gatherings. Moon Mohr said they are still awaiting the expected fallout from spring break and the rise in cases that could come with it.
"Just one week to let our community to catch our breath," Moon Mohr said.
The TCAPS Board of Education meets again at 6 p.m. on Monday.
