Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered all K-12 schools to remain closed throughout the academic year to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.
Mlive.com reports that the governor signed an executive order Thursday ordering all K-12 schools closed for the remainder of the school year, which typically ends in June. The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers are developing resources for teachers to offer online learning.
“My number one priority right now is protecting Michigan families from the spread of COVID-19,” Whitmer said. “For the sake of our students, their families, and the more than 100,000 teachers and staff in our state, I have made the difficult decision to close our school facilities for the remainder of the school year.”
The governor said it’s unsafe for students to return to classrooms while the number of COVID-19 cases found each day sharply rises.
“Given (the) virus’s aggressively persistent spread and potentially fatal consequences, in-person instruction in our schools is too dangerous to resume in the near future, and very likely for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year,” Whitmer’s order states.
School districts across the state are ordered to establish a process that will allow high school seniors to graduate and younger students to move on to the next grade.
Students will be awarded credit and grades for courses taken based on coursework through March 11. Districts can require graduating seniors to take an optional final exam or other activities to test their understanding of course material or allow seniors to graduate by proving their competency in other ways.
Districts must provide high school seniors who were failing a course as of March 11, an opportunity to receive credit for the course, as determined by the district.
All public universities have canceled or suspended in-person classes.
