WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – With Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers on the rise and spring break around the corner, Wayne County superintendents are reaching out to parents to ask them to be vigilant in order to keep schools open. In order to keep schools open -- despite the rise in COVID cases -- it will depend on behavior outside of school. READ: Tracking coronavirus cases, outbreaks in Michigan schoolsAdWayne County school officials are asking parents as they head into spring break to skip the parties because of the substantial community spread going on. Officials said the precautions at schools -- daily cleaning, contact tracing and isolating students -- are working and that they don’t want students to return to remote-learning. They said they are concerned that if students and families let their guards down over spring break, the community spread will explode more than it already is.

It’s a struggle every day for every district -- how do local schools balance COVID safety and prevent panic from spreading when the inevitable case is reported? It’s a phone call that no parent wants to receive -- a confirmed case of coronavirus is at their child’s school. While his son is currently quarantined and that is unnerving, Mathis said he’s satisfied with how the Fraser Public School District is handing COVID for students in face-to-face learning. As of March 4, there are 11 cases of COVID throughout the district -- 11 teachers and nearly 150 students are quarantined. That’s less than 1% of the district with 70% of its students opting for five-days a week face-to-face learning.