CLOSER TO NORMAL
District moving to 4 days per week of in-person class
The Pontiac School District will shift to four full days per week of in-person instruction, beginning April 12.
The Board of Education approved the new in-person mode on Monday, March 22.
Currently, students are divided into two cohorts. Each attends inperson school for two full days per week.
State legislation passed earlier this month required school districts to offer at least 20 hours per week of in-person instruction by March 22 in order to qualify for supplemental federal and state funding.
Heidi Hedquist, spokeswoman for the Pontiac School District, did not know how much funding the district stands to lose by missing the deadline to implement the 20 hours per week of face-to-face instruction.
The West Bloomfield School District Board of Education considered several options to increase the number of in-person hours to at least 20 per week, but decided to keep its current hybrid plan through the end of the school year. Like Pontiac, West Bloomfield is also foregoing the funds tied to the 20-hour mandate under the new legislation, known as House Bill 4048.
A number of Oakland County districts modified their in-person learning schedules to qualify for the funding, including Lake Orion, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills.
Several others were already offering at least 20 hours per week, including Waterford, Oxford,
Brandon and Clarkston.
Several Oakland County schools that offered full-time in-person learning temporarily reverted to all-virtual classes because of the number of positive COVID-19 cases and resulting quarantines. These included the Waterford high schools and Oxford High School and Oxford Middle School.
Recently, state officials reported that for the first time since the pandemic began, the number of COVID-19 outbreaks in K-12 schools was higher than in longterm care facilities.
“This is a testament to how well we have done with vaccinating our staff and our residents in longterm care facilities. It also speaks to the risk we see with some of the activities children in this age
group are engaging in,’’ said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department for Health and Human Services.
In the past four weeks, the spread of COVID-19 has risen 105% among people ages 10-19, according to MDHHS.