ANN ARBOR, MI – A partnership between Ann Arbor Public Schools and Michigan Medicine to quickly vaccinate teachers and staff will contribute to the district’s recommendation to send students back to the classroom, officials said.
AAPS Superintendent Jeanice Swift and the district school board announced the partnership with the health system on Tuesday, February 23, a day before the school board meets to discuss plans to re-teach students in person.
District officials noted that significant progress has been made over the past few days in their efforts to bring about rapid COVID-19 testing and ensure staff have access to vaccines, with ‘important events’ taking place this weekend.
The Washtenaw County Department of Health is working with Michigan Medicine and IHA to vaccinate approximately 1,200 elementary school teachers on Saturday, February 27th. In addition to the vaccinations, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has allowed AAPS to expand rapid testing for students and staff. in school buildings, school officials said.
“Since the announcement in January that K – 12 educators are eligible for vaccination, we are disappointed that Washtenaw County has lagged behind in achieving these critical goals,” reads a statement from AAPS. “This promising revolution is the result of the advocacy work of many.”
This news will inform the recommendation that the school board will consider at its meeting on Wednesday, February 24, according to the statement.
The school officials said the development is a ‘game changer’ for healthy and safe access to AAPS school buildings.
The Department of Health is providing the vaccine from its state allocation this week and is working directly with provincial schools and districts to link their staff to the appropriate partner for vaccination.
School employees aged 50 and over have been offered vaccinations, but in future appointment requests will be open to all eligible school workers through an invitation process.
“Limited vaccine supplies continue to hamper our local efforts to reach everyone who is currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccination,” Jimena Loveluck, a health officer in the Washtenaw County Department of Health, said in a news release. “This week we are grateful that there are enough doses available to work with Michigan Medicine and IHA to provide vaccination to our early elementary educators as effectively as possible.”
The pressure has continued to build on AAPS over the past few weeks as to whether it will remain in distance education for the rest of the year, or whether it would set a target date for students to return to the classroom.
Last week, the Ann Arbor School Board voted to order Swift to submit a plan to keep education virtual for the rest of the 2020-21 year, with the exception of serving those with the greatest needs. The decision came in a meeting nearly five-and-a-half hours ago over a motion against opposing trustees described as hurried, a surprise and radical.
Following the meeting, Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor and several city council members asked the district to confirm its previously established hybrid learning format and set a target date of return.
The board has since made it clear in a message to families that it has not decided to remain fully virtual education for the rest of the year and that it has not yet voted to change the approved transition to a hybrid learning option. or to change.
Instead, councilors said they intend to set a date on which the most vulnerable students can return safely to school buildings, students struggling the most according to the current virtual model, parents and caregivers who have asked for help with their pupils help. , helps families plan for the rest of the school year and focuses on an improved summer program and a strong and safe return to school in the fall.
The district in January had an early March return to personal classes. Students have remained in distance education since last March.
The district’s current plan proposes returning students in phases, with the first phase including students in kindergarten, junior high and kindergarten who have chosen the hybrid personal learning model, as well as students with specialized high-level learning needs.
Small groups of middle and high school students who need the necessary personal classes are also included. Additional phases have been proposed to bring students back to grade level in a one-week step, with middle and high school students enrolling in the hybrid format last.
READ MORE:
Ann Arbor School Board votes on plan for most students to complete annually
While mental health issues threaten, Ann Arbor Public Schools students organize rallies for personal learning
Mayor, councilors call on Ann Arbor schools to offer hybrid learning