Detroit, other schools greet new year with virtual and canceled classes

The new year brings a strange start to school in many districts, including the state's largest.

Detroit and several other districts announced they will buffer the end of the holidays with either virtual or no school to give time for faculty to get tested and avoid further possible COVID-19 infection between students. 

Wayne County and Detroit's high COVID-19 infection rate - an all-time high of 36% - would ‘inevitably’ lead to high rates of quarantining students and workers, worsening an already burdened staffing situation at the district, Detroit school officials warned last week.

As a result, classes have been canceled for both in-person and virtual schooling Monday through Wednesday at DPSCD.

The district will reevaluate the situation on Wednesday afternoon.

In the meantime, the district will be having all its staff get tested for COVID-19. Students are encouraged to get tested as well.

The district has free testing available at 10 different sites:

  • Henry Ford High School
  • Breithaupt Career Technical Center
  • DCP at Northwestern (enter through the back of the school)
  • Mumford High School
  • Pershing High School
  • Brenda Scott Academy
  • Fisher Upper Academy
  • Davis Aerospace High School
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School
  • Western High School

Testing is available from Monday Jan. 3 to Thursday Jan. 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's also available on Friday, Jan. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Classes have also been canceled in districts like Romulus, Oak Park, Tecumseh, while Pontiac, Southfield, and Ann Arbor districts will start the year virtually.

Michigan colleges greet new year

Universities in the state are also taking their own approach to kick-starting the school year. In East Lansing, Michigan State University is beginning the semester with remote classes for the first three weeks.

It cited the omicron variant as justification for the move. It joined Wayne State and Oakland University as schools that won't begin class in-person.

The University of Michigan says it will resume in-person classes on Jan. 5. 

MacDowell Preparatory Academy

The K-8 college prep school MacDowell Preparatory Academy has slightly different rules for its students for the coming days. 

Instead, MPA is implementing distance learning for the entire week. 

Students will receive Take Home Instructional Packets for the week while staff will have both office hours and at least one hour of virtual instruction between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The first packet pickup is Monday from 12 to 3 p.m. and the second is Tuesday, between 8 and 11 a.m.