CLICK BELOW TO HEAR JACK HALL’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH COBY FLETCHER
It was the first day back in the classroom in six weeks for some high school kids Monday.
In Escanaba, Superintendent Coby Fletcher says the kids were happy to be back, after the governor shut down in-person learning before the holidays.
“For the most part, things went pretty well today,” Fletcher said. “There were a few things we had to deal with and address. But, you know, I would say, nothing major, and I think that kids and staff are doing everything they can to get back into the groove.”
The Whitmer Adminstsration ordered all junior and senior high schools to go to full remote learning in mid-November. They were allowed back into the classroom on Dec. 21, but Escanaba had already begun its two-week Winter Break. Monday was the first day back, but it’s still not normal, with kids going to in-person classes part time, with the rest still on-line.
“We keep a close eye on numbers, and right now, they’re trending really well in the right direction,” Fletcher said. “So we’re hopeful that we can return to full-time face-to-face instruction sooner rather than later. It would be wonderful to start the second semester that way.”
Fletcher says they are continuing with the blended, hybrid approach, not because of massive outbreaks, but concerns over the state’s strict contact tracing rules. Students who are identified as close contacts to someone who tests positive are sent home for up to two weeks, whether they ever get the virus, much less even get sick, or not.
“We’re doing this to avoid quarantines,” Fletcher said. “That’s the big issue here. We just don’t want to be sending 300-to-400 kids home because they were close contacts.”
This way, kids are physically in buildings less, which lowers the chance of that happening.
Meanwhile, Fletcher says there’s no truth to rumors that there weren’t enough tables for kids to eat their lunch Monday, forcing them to eat on the floor.
“We have plenty of tables and chairs,” Fletcher said. “If you sit at those tables, you can’t necessarily sit with your larger group of friends, because you’re socially-distanced,” Fletcher said. “And so what they chose to do, was to take their lunches, and spread out on the floor, in socially-distanced groups. It was about 15 kids who opted to go down, socially-distanced, so they could be with their larger group of friends. I’ve had a few people ask me: are you going to force kids to sit in chairs at tables?”
And the answer to that question is no. Fletcher says he has no problem with the kids sitting on the floor in socially distanced groups if they want to.
“When you get to be high school aged, you deserve to have a little more freedom,” Fletcher said.
And his message about the whole “kids forced to sit on the floor” issue?
“This may shock you, so prepare yourself,” he said. “You can’t believe you hear on Facebook.”
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