ANN ARBOR, Mich. – On Friday, Ann Arbor Public Schools reported their highest weekly COVID case total since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We are working hard to support our staff and serve our students during this challenging January,” Superintendent Jeanice K. Swift said. “Cases remain high in the AAPS and across our community, and we are not yet through this current omicron surge.”
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Here’s everything you need to know:
COVID metrics
The weekly COVID dashboard for the district was updated Friday (Jan. 21) and revealed 177 cases have been reported this week. That’s the highest number of weekly cases for AAPS at any point in the pandemic.
Swift said that reflects the COVID surge that’s currently happening in the Ann Arbor community.
School officials said they’re aware of 37 additional COVID cases that were reported this week from staff members and students who weren’t on campus while infectious. Many of these cases directly affect the district’s in-person staffing.
The district’s COVID response team is working with one outbreak at an elementary school, according to Swift.
“We continue to closely monitor situations in some schools where we observe patterns in cases, week over week,” Swift said in an email message.
Guidance for K-12 schools in the district has been updated based on the current recommendations by the Washtenaw County Health Department.
Plan for next week
All Ann Arbor Public Schools will be open for in-person learning the week of Jan. 24-28, but the schedule has been adjusted to make Wednesday (Jan. 26) a remote/virtual day, officials said.
Wednesday was originally supposed to be an early release day, and it will now be treated as a remote/virtual early release day. Students are expected to sign into their classes at the regular morning report time and participate in remote learning.
Wednesday’s virtual classes will follow the original early release day schedule. Attendance will be taken.
“We appreciate your support with this necessary adjustment,” Swift said.”
Transportation routes
School officials said the suspension of some transportation routes will be extended for one week.
The parents and guardians of children affected by this extension will be notified directly about the status of their routes and when to expect them to resume, according to Swift.
This decision was made because of additional COVID issues for transportation staff members, officials said.
“We will continue to vigilantly monitor this transportation situation daily and work to restore transportation routes as soon as we can mobilize healthy and qualified staff to serve,” Swift wrote.
Slowing spread of COVID
Ann Arbor Public Schools plan to slow the spread of COVID by layering strategies such as vaccinations, booster shots and universal masking.
Students, teachers and staff members should stay home if they’re experiencing symptoms, officials said.
“We are making progress through this current COVID surge and the related impact across our schools,” Swift wrote. “Many thanks to our students and staff, parents and community for all you are doing to support our progress through this school year.”
Deciding between in-person, remote classes
Keeping students and staff members in school remains a top priority for the district, as long as everyone can be safely supported and supervised, according to officials.
Decisions about whether to continue in-person learning or transition to remote learning hinge on the following factors:
- The number of positive COVID cases within a given classroom or school.
- The ability to staff schools for in-person learning, supervision and safe operations.
- Guidance by the Washtenaw County Health Department in response to any given COVID outbreak situation.
“We continue to monitor staff illness and attendance around the clock to determine the viability to appropriately staff schools and support operations and to notify our staff, students and parents as early in the process as possible,” Swift wrote. “While we work to notify parents as soon as we possibly can, these situations can, at times, change rapidly. We will continue to do everything we can to achieve in-school learning and to communicate often.”
Click here to view the district’s full COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
