![]() Last school year, a quarter of Detroit students missed half or more school days, according to recent research conducted at Wayne State University's College of Education. Some of those hinge on whether school is in-person or virtual: In-person school may be hard to get to for some students due to transportation challenges, while virtual school presents problems for students with insufficient internet access. Attendance rates were beginning to rebound before the pandemic, but suffered a blow during it.ĭetroit students are absent for a medley of reasons. The low turnout is a part of a larger chronic absenteeism problem that has plagued the district for over a decade. Low attendance numbers are not only worrisome for the largest school district in the state because of student well-being, but also could affect the district financially, Vitti said. According to his presentation, 58%, 62% and 70% of students attended online school on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively. On Thursday, he wrote in an email that attendance has since slowly improved: Wednesday's attendance was 76%. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, presented recent attendance data on Tuesday during a school board meeting. As few as 58% of students signed into virtual school one day last week. Related: Michigan will update COVID quarantine guidance to match CDCĬopyright 2021 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.Detroit's school district is once again struggling with student attendance online. New: Michigan State University to begin winter 2022 semester virtually amid COVID surge A number of Michigan colleges have decided to begin the upcoming winter semester online amid the COVID surge. Michigan health officials on Wednesday reported the highest-ever single-day COVID case counts since the onset of the pandemic. A student COVID vaccine mandate is “likely by the first day of school next year,” Vitti said. ![]() In addition to the class cancelation, Vitti announced Friday that all DPSCD staff members will be required to be vaccinated for COVID, effective Feb. Officials say 65% of students are already getting tested for the virus weekly. Vitti says all DPSCD students will be required to get tested regularly for COVID-19, or they will instead be required to attend the school’s virtual academy, effective Jan. Students are also being encouraged to get tested for COVID-19 at one of the district’s no cost testing sites during this time. If schools open as planned on Monday, it is inevitable that we will face a high number of positive cases that will lead to high rates of quarantining and staff shortages, which will disrupt school operations.” Infection rates are also high statewide and at the county level. “Due to the Omicron variant and low vaccination rates, the city is facing an all-time high infection rate of 36%. However, we have also been a leader in using science and data to make hard decisions during this pandemic,” Vitti said in a statement Friday. We know this is the best way for our students to learn and maximize their education. “DPSCD has been a leader in promoting and protecting in-person learning. Nikolai Vitti, the district cannot immediately shift to online classes next week due to the “need to test employees,” and because not all students have access to the learning platforms at home. The district will then use the staff infection rate to determine how to proceed for the remainder of the week and in the weeks to come, officials said. Officials say the city of Detroit currently has a COVID-19 infection rate of 36%. Staff members will reportedly be tested for COVID at no cost to give the district an idea of how likely and safe it would be to welcome students back for in-person learning. The announcement comes as Detroit, along with the rest of the state of Michigan, sees a surge in virus cases, likely partly driven by the new omicron variant. 5 in an effort to test all employees for COVID-19 before students return to school. The Detroit Public Schools Community District ( DPSCD) has canceled all classes on Monday, Jan. DETROIT – In-person and online classes have been canceled for Detroit public schools next week as the district conducts widespread COVID testing and works to establish a learning plan amid an ongoing virus surge.
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