The Ann Arbor Education Association sent a letter to Ann Arbor Public Schoolsencouraging the district to continue using a virtual learning model instead of in-person instruction.
Fred Klein is the president of the Ann Arbor Education Association and says the teacher’s union does not believe it’s safe for students and staff members to return to school buildings right now because positive COVID-19 cases continue to be reported in Washtenaw County. While they understand that virtual learning is not ideal for the district’s academic curriculum, Klein says the union has many concerns.
Fred Klein: Well, the concerns would be, 'Who has to be isolated?' 'How many kids in a school? ' 'If it’s a high school, would kids move from class to class?' 'How many classes need to be quarantined for 14 days?' ' How many teachers need to be quarantined during that time period?' We haven’t met to discuss how that looks.
The district plans to review community metrics, such as the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people or per million residents, and use that data to determine if it’s safe to offer in-person instruction. We reached out to the district for comment on the union’s letter but did not hear back from them.
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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu
