For Summer Programs, COVID-19 Restrictions Remain in Place at Saline Area Schools

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Saline Area Schools Superintendent Steve Laatsch speaks during Tuesday's Board of Education meeting.

COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted throughout the State of Michigan. But they're still enacted- for now, at least - in Saline Area Schools.

Board of Education President Jennifer Steben, at the outset of Tuesday's board meeting, said that while the state's restrictions were lifted Tuesday, said masking and other restrictions remain in place during summer programs offered by the school district.

Steben said the district will continue to evaluate national, state and local mandates as fall approaches. 

"We are expecting more guidance from local agencies regarding schools in the next week, and we will continue to evaluate," Steben said. "We are parents, too. We understand the frustrations, the advocacy, and the love of our kids in this challenging year and we thank you for your support."

Later in the meeting, in a related subject, Superintendent Steve Laatsch said the district continues to make plans for five-day-a-week instruction in the fall. However the district must also decide how it will serve families who might not be ready to send children back to school. Laatsch said the district will re-survey the families of 12 and under students who finished the year with virtual learning.

"There have been questions from those families of those students who have not had a chance to be vaccinated about online options to start the school year that is something we are exploring," Laatsch said.

In a previous survey of the families with students learning remotely, 232 of the 402 respondents said their children were returning to in-person school. 19 families said they did not plan to return to school. 140 families said they weren't certain. The district plans to resurvey the families and ask for the names of any students in Y5 to sixth grade, who want to pursue remote options to start the year.

Laatsch said the district continues to receive questions about whether masks will be required.

"We don't know yet. I know it's not been a popular response," Laatsch said. "Unfortunately, it's just too early to make a call on this."

The district continues to work with the Washtenaw County Health Department to determine procedures.

"Their latest guidance for summer programming is that we continue to have students and adults mask in schools while working with students," Laatsch said. "There are currently discussions on whether that's going to be lifted or not."

The district is also asking the health department data on the number of COVID-19 outbreaks in Washtenaw Schools so it can determine the impact or lack of impact the disruptive quarantine protocols have had.

Meghan Gunnerson, a single mom who works as a nurse, said she needs to know what the district's plans are.

"I have only eight weeks to plan what I'm doing for the fall. As a nurse, I cannot work from home, so I've got to get it together fast. If you as a board decide to send our children back to school five days a week, which is great, but have limitations, like quarantining and masking, I need to make decisions," Gunnerson said. "I appreciate that this is a very fluid situation, but it's been fluid for 16 months."

She said providing the basic plans - understanding they may change - would help parents prepare and make their decisions. 

The district's decision may impact where Gunnerson sends her children next fall, she said, which is another reason why she can't wait much longer for an answer.

People were not required to wear masks at Tuesday's board meeting, since it was not a student or staff program. 

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