Michigan’s Coronavirus School Closures: What We Know About Pay, Testing, Meals, More

By Lori Higgins, Chalkbeat Detroit

Originally published on Monday, March 16

As Michigan marks the first official day of the state shutdown of schools, many questions still remain about how canceling classes for three weeks will impact schools, students, testing, and employees’ pocketbooks.

What questions do you have? Send them to me at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org, or to the Chalkbeat Detroit team at detroit.tips@chalkbeat.org. We’ll search for answers and report what we find here, so keep coming back for updated information.

Will all school employees get paid during the shutdown?

David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers-Michigan, said the answer should be yes, but in reality it may vary from district to district for some employees.

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“Our position is everyone should get paid,” Hecker said. It likely won’t be a problem for teachers. It could be, though, for support staff who are hourly employees, Hecker said.

“Support staff are far more likely to be financially, negatively hit by this,” he said. “Some districts have said we’re paying everybody. Some districts haven’t said that yet.”

In some districts, where meals are being prepared and handed out to families during the shutdown, support staff will continue working.

Will the state delay the start of the M-STEP?

The M-STEP is currently scheduled to begin in April, and it’s unclear if the state will maintain that schedule since students will have missed several weeks of instruction.

“School closure due to the public health emergency has created significant concerns about test preparation, test administration, and potential student results,” Venessa Keesler, a deputy superintendent in the state education department, said in a memo to school district leaders throughout Michigan. “Top department leadership has conveyed these concerns to the U.S. Department of Education and will advocate for maximum flexibility.”

The U.S. Department of Education last week issued guidance saying it will consider waiving requirements for state-wide tests.

A three-week break before testing would be difficult in any school year. It’s especially so now considering state law requires that beginning this school year, schools must hold back some third-graders whose scores on the M-STEP indicate they’re a grade level or more behind in reading.

How will students from low-income families receive meals during the shutdown?

Many school districts — including the Detroit Public Schools Community District — and charter schools will be providing meals that families can pick up from various school locations.

In addition, some community groups are stepping up to help provide meals.

And the state education department received a waiver from the federal government that allows for meals to be served without children having to be together and on site. The waiver also allows schools to explore “creative options for feeding children who depend on those meals even if the school building is closed.”

Could the school shutdown last longer than three weeks?

It’s possible. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said it’s “absolutely” likely schools will be shut down through the end of the school year.

“Going by what medical experts are telling us, [the outbreak] may not peak until the latter part of April or May,” he added, according to a report in The Hill. “We’ve informed superintendents while we’ve closed schools for three weeks, odds are we will go on a lot longer.”

Also Sunday, the federal Centers for Disease Control issued new guidance, recommending cancellation or postponement for events with 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. Oddly, schools were excluded from the recommendations. But it’s likely some states will apply the recommendations to them.

Will school districts have to meet state calendar guidelines?

Michigan law requires schools to provide 180 days of instruction, though six days can be forgiven for things like snow days.

It’s unclear if the state will require districts to extend the school year to make up for lost time, or forgive those days.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.