District returns to all-virtual learning
Troy Superintendent Richard Machesky said in a message to parents last week that he didn’t know when students might return to in-person learning.
The Troy School District has returned to all-virtual learning for all K-12 students, effective Monday.
Troy is joining a growing number of Oakland County districts that shifted to allvirtual learning after the Oakland County Health Division reclassified the coronavirus risk for schools from Level C to Level E, the highest level, defined as either more than 150 cases per million or a 20% positivity rate.
Most area districts began the 2020-21 school year remotely and had begun to phase in face-to-face classes over the past month. Troy began to resume in-person education in mid- September
roy Superintendent Richard Machesky said in a message to parents last week that he didn’t know when students might return to in-person learning. He said the district would reevaluate coronavirus data the week of Nov. 23.
“We continue to have major staffing issues, expanding past the high schools into our elementary schools, and it’s only a matter of time before it substantially affects our middle schools as well,” Machesky said.
“We simply do not have enough substitutes to cover our teachers and staff who are self-quarantining due to exposure to the virus.”
Machesky said metrics involving all aspects of the coronavirus have worsened every week for several weeks.
“If the data shows improvement, our intention is to return to a hybrid option. But we can’t do this alone. We need our community to take the precautions in their own lives to drive the spread of COVID-19 down,” he said.
“Absent a shutdown by the state or other public health guidance, our intention is to return to in-seat services for our most vulnerable students to the extent possible.”
Resources for families
Machesky said the district recognizes that halting in-person school will create some issues for parents or guardians.
“We recognize that turning back the dial to virtual learning will leave some of our families in crisis, with few safe options for students while parents work or are otherwise unable to care for children during the day.
“Therefore, as a service to our community, we are creating opportunities for supervision in several of our buildings for students in grades K- 6 beginning next Wednesday, Nov. 11.. L.I.V.E. (Learning in a Virtual Environment) will be offered to current in-seat students first, with all in- seat students in those grade levels eligible.
“I want to be clear that this is NOT school. This is an opportunity for a limited number of students to spend the day in a supervised environment, with access to reliable internet where they can log on to virtual instruction from their classroom teacher.
He said the program would be offered at no cost to families who have supervision or Internet needs. Transportation and meals will also be provided. But no additional tutoring or instructional support will be available.
“You may wonder why this is considered safe when in- seat instruction is not. The two are markedly different, both in numbers and in reasoning,” Machesky said.
“Although it is not ideal, we know that most of our students can learn in a virtual setting. We also know that some of our students do not have a consistent, secure environment when our schools are closed. This is an emergency measure intended to fill a need for families and a service to our community with a limited number of students in each building (not to exceed state guidelines).
“Our secondary buildings will also survey families of students in grades 7-12 to see if there is interest in us providing an opportunity for students to have access to a supervised wifi- enabled environment for them to access their virtual learning.”