Schools goes virtual for the week

Sickness among students, staff forces move

Citing a large number of sick children and staff, Shepherd School District announced that it will transition to virtual/distance learning this week.

The announcement came in a letter sent to the Shepherd community Monday morning. It cited a large number of sick students and staff and said that the move is necessary to continue education and protect the community.

Shepherd expects to return to face-to-face learning next Monday.

While the letter doesn’t specifically mention COVID-19 or the fast-moving omicron variant that has caused case numbers to rapidly increase across Michigan, the district reported 34 new cases last week, including 19 at Shepherd Elementary involving both staff and students.

The district has approximately 1,800 students and 120 staff.

Shepherd is the second midmichigan school district to shift to virtual learning as COVID-19 cases increase.

Mt. Pleasant went virtual last week after cases of COVID-19 exploded last weekend. While Shepherd is expected to return to face-to-face learning next Monday, Mt. Pleasant will remain virtual for most of the month.