DETROIT – City officials announced Thursday two students attending summer school in Detroit have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
The confirmed cases could have major implications when it comes for school to resume in the fall.
School leaders and parents across the state are paying attention to Detroit Public Schools Community District’s response and how that could play a major role in the upcoming school year.
When Carol’s daughter got sick, there was a sense of panic in the household. She said her daughter had started summer school healthy, but she now found herself struggling to breathe.
After taking her to the doctor, it was revealed it was just allergies and asthma, but for Carol, the presence of COVID-19 in any summer school class will still not be a game changer.
“It would it would not change my view at all,” Carol said. “Is it a risk. but at the same time, my view will not change.”
READ: Here’s what Michigan school districts have planned for the fall amid the pandemic
For others, it’s an agonizing decision to stay the course through Aug. 6.
For DPSCD superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti, it was expected.
“We know the infection rate in Detroit is about 1% or 1.5%, so it was inevitable that when we tested students that there would be positive cases,” Vitti said. “Now the two out of 274 means that infection rate is actually lower than the city.”
Vitti said that the numbers tell him the infection rate hasn’t increased and that the school district’s precautions are working.
He said he’s open to testing all the students, provided it’s not just Detroit students.
“The students that tested positive were not from the same school, or from the same neighborhood or communities,” Vitti said.
The tests were ordered on Tuesday, after a judge ruled that summer classes could only continue if every student attending was tested for the virus.
So far, 274 kids were tested and two have tested positive. Parents of the students are being notified to self-quarantine for 14 days and to monitor for symptoms.
The students who tested positive will continue classes online. The school is working to clean and disinfect the school and the school bus.