Following weeks of contention
over the lack of in-person education
in Ann Arbor Public Schools, the
AAPS Board of Education voted Feb.
24 to begin phasing in a hybrid plan
for in-person instruction starting
March 25.
The district, which has been
fully remote since March 2020,
will continue to offer an online
learning option for families who
wish to remain online. Around 750
community members listened in to
Feb 24’s vote.
“The question has always been a
matter of when we will return, not if,”
AAPS Superintendent Jeanice Swift
said. “We recognize that this time
has presented significant challenges
for everyone. Our children need
in-school learning opportunities,
our staff and parents who’ve worked
so valiantly at kitchen tables, across
this community, and everyone has
made so many sacrifices.”
On Feb. 22, six Ann Arbor City
Council
members
and
Mayor
Christopher Taylor signed a public
letter to the BOE urging AAPS to
return to in-person and hybrid
learning.
Citing
the
negative
repercussions of keeping schools
closed on students’ mental health
and wellbeing, the city officials
asked the BOE to begin serious
discussions about reopening schools
as soon as possible.
“The
extended
absence
of
in-school
learning
harms
the
emotional and mental state of
students
and
stresses
already
stressed families,” the letter reads.
“These harms are universal, but
they
are
compounded
among
homes with young students and
community members who are
resource-deprived or who have
special needs.”
This City Council letter came
after Swift announced in mid-
January that remote instruction
would continue indefinitely due
to confirmed cases of the more
contagious B.1.1.7 variant among
University of Michigan students and
ongoing vaccine shortages.
The district will begin Stage
One on March 25 by phasing in
PreK-12 students who learn in “self-
contained classroom placements,”
meaning students with special
needs will work in small groups
with special education teachers.
Stage One also includes preschool
students, Young Five students,
kindergarten students and small
groups of students in grades 6-12.
Stage Two begins on April 5 and
includes first and second grade
students. Stages Three and Four
both begin on April 12 — Stage
Three allows third, fourth and fifth
grade students to return, and Stage
Four begins a phased return of all
students in grades 6-12.
On
Feb.
23,
AAPS
leaders
announced a partnership with
Michigan Medicine and Integrated
Health
Associates
to
quickly
vaccinate teachers and staff in
mass vaccination programs this
coming weekend. Swift said this
decision significantly impacted the
reopening recommendation and the
Feb. 24 vote.
Swift said vaccinating teachers
and staff and offering frequent
testing to students were two key
components in creating the hybrid
plan. To mitigate potential spread,
Swift announced that the district
will also be able to offer in-school
rapid testing for students, which
aligns with one of the new Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
guidelines for reopening schools.
“This is critically important, as
an extra layer of protection and of
confidence for our parents, and for
students and for staff,” Swift said.
The district is also planning for
a “robust” summer program, with
further details being announced in
March, Swift said. Swift said the
district is planning for a full return
to in-school learning in fall 2021.
“I also want to declare our intent
on a full return to school in the Ann
Arbor Public Schools this fall, a full
five days per week of instruction
for students and staff,” Swift said.
“Certainly, if there is any unforeseen
event that would change that
ability, we would be the first ones to
immediately be in communication
with our trustees and with our
community on any change, but that
is our intention.”
Some Ann Arbor residents and
AAPS parents said AAPS’ choice
to remain all virtual since March
2020 placed a heavy toll on many
children, particularly those with
learning disabilities who rely on
professionally-trained staff. Ann
Arbor residents have also raised
concerns about the disproportionate
effects COVID-19 has placed on
families of color, particularly Black
families, which can further widen
the disparities that exist for people
of color.
The
Ann
Arbor
Board
of
Education voted to approve the
hybrid plan 6-0, with Trustee
Ernesto Querijero abstaining from
the vote, saying that the time change
of the meeting could violate board
policy.
After the vote, the Board of
Education reconvened at 7 p.m. to
hear public comments from over
200 submissions. All names and
comments were submitted prior to
the vote to phase in the hybrid plan
and were given 15 seconds to be read
aloud to the Board.
Allison Plagens wrote the school
year has been very upsetting for
her family, and urged the Board
to provide transparency for the
decision-making process to reopen.
“We feel trapped by your school
system,” Plagens wrote. “As a low
income family we have weighed the
pros and cons of staying in AAPS
and if we are able to leave due to
what has happened this school year.
All my family wants in honesty at
this point.”
Yuriy
Goykhman,
a
parent
of a second grader at Eberwhite
Elementary School, shared concerns
about the district’s previous actions.
“With so many empty promises,
denial of science and compete
disregard of the needs of a large
portion of the community AAPS
leadership and the board have
lost the trust of the community,”
Goykhman wrote. “AAPS families
are leaving the district in droves –
it is very difficult to find housing in
nearby districts and all the private
schools have long waitlists.”
Though most of the comments
urged AAPS to approve the hybrid
plan,
Nicole
Turcotte-Ruiz,
a
mother of a first grader in AAPS,
expressed doubt about the success
of the proposed model to return to
the classroom.
“The proposed Hybrid Model
that has teachers instructing both
in-person and virtual students
simultaneously seems ambitious
at best and more likely downright
impossible,” Turcotte-Ruiz wrote.
Daily News Editor Kristina Zheng
can be reached at krizheng@umich.
edu.
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AAPS votes to offer hybrid in-person
learning beginning March 25
ANN ARBOR
Decision comes after weeks of contention on going back to the classroom
KRISTINA ZHENG
Daily News Editor
In an email to The Daily,
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald said the University
does not track graduation rates
and other indicators of student
success by high school.
Business
freshman
Marcel
Wong is one of the many students
in his class that came to the
University from Northville High
School in Northville, Mich. In
2019, the University accepted 150
students from Northville High
School, and 101 chose to attend.
Wong said that coming from a
high school where many students
attended Michigan made it easier
for him to adjust as a freshman.
“Having
a
community
of
people not just in your grade, but
older ones as well that are already
here and can serve as a potential
friend or mentor, is definitely a
big plus with an in-state feeder
school,” Wong said.
With a median household
income just over $110,000 per
year, many Northville students
are able to take some of the 21
Advanced Placement classes or
the IB curriculum their high
school
offers.
These
classes
provide students a way to earn
college credits in high school and
often match collegiate academic
rigor, but the $100 price tag
on exams poses a barrier for
some students. According to
the
College
Board
website,
some “qualifying” low-income
students are eligible for fee
reductions, though the cost is
still $53 per test.
Wong
said
he
thinks
his
AP-packed
Northville
curriculum prepared him well
for college.
“I think being exposed to those
harder classes early and learning
good
study
habits
definitely
assisted
in
transitioning
to
college classes and workload,”
Wong said.
In contrast, LSA sophomore
Adelaide Ward went to Ludington
High School in the small town of
Ludington, Mich., with a total
population of just over 8,000.
Ludington High School offers
eight AP courses. Out of her
graduating class of 172, only
three ended up attending the
University. Ward said that she
experienced a difficult transition
her freshman year because her
high school did not challenge her
academically.
“I
100%
struggled
academically during my first year
at Michigan,” Ward said. “Public
high school curriculum was
pretty easy for me, so I wasn’t
used to having to actually study
for tests and dedicate a lot of time
to each class.”
Additionally, Ward said she
experienced a culture shock
during her first year at the
University. Coming from a small
town, Ward said she had not had
the same experiences as other
students who came from bigger
cities or other regions of the
world.
“My high school class of
172 maybe had 10 people of
color, and my hometown is
extremely
conservative
and
heteronormative,”
Ward
said.
“I had little interaction, until I
came to Michigan, with people
of
different
races,
religions
other than Christianity, beliefs
different from right-leaning, and
the LGBTQ+ community. I feel
as if I adjusted pretty quickly,
though, because I always felt out
of place in my hometown.”
Business senior Brianna Byard
also came from a small town in
Michigan, where she attended
Tawas Area High School. Like
Ward, Byard said her high school
curriculum was not rigorous
enough to effectively prepare her
for college.
“I had just as much of a brain
as most of my peers (in college),
it just hadn’t been used in the
same capacity in my high school,”
Byard
said.
“There
weren’t
many academically-challenging
courses in my high school besides
three AP courses.”
Byard also said her high
school provided little support for
students applying to college, since
there were few standardized test
preparation resources available.
“We had no SAT tutors within
a 2 hour radius, or any type of
school-led SAT prep,” Byard said.
Byard
said
she
felt
disadvantaged coming from a
small high school when many of
her peers at the University had
attended feeder schools. There
was a steeper learning curve to
adjusting to college life because
of this discrepancy, Byard said.
“The social capital ... my
peers had, that of knowing
many students already at school,
knowing the norms already of
social life at college or knowing
what makes a successful college
student,” Byard said. “I had to
learn from scratch to cultivate
my own social capital to enable
myself to be a part of the
community.”
FEEDER SCHOOL
From Page 1
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