Dearborn Schools Town Hall To Focus On Return To Online Classes

DEARBORN, MI — Dearborn Public Schools is hosting a virtual town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss how starting the school year online will look for students.

The district will discuss what technology it will be using, how the daily schedule will look for students and what services will be provided to special needs students. The district will also touch on cleaning procedures put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We know opening school this year online is like no other return-to-school our community has experienced," District Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said. "That is generating a lot of questions and some anxiety for parents and students, and we hope to use this forum to answer as many of those questions as we can and in turn calm their fears."

Don't miss important updates from health and government officials on the impact of the coronavirus in Michigan. Sign up for Patch's daily newsletters and email alerts.

The town hall will be streamed on the district's Facebook page and its YouTube Channel. Questions can also be submitted during the event via Facebook or through an online form.

Maleyko will be joined at the town hall by other staff, including representatives from administration, school nurses, and the operations and technology departments.

Dearborn Public Schools is starting the school year with online classes until at least Oct. 1. The school board will reevaluate conditions in September to decide if the district can start bringing more students back to the schools. During online learning, the district will also offer learning labs, which are small group face-to-face sessions for students recommended by their teachers.

Related: Dearborn Schools Opt To Start School Year Online

The first week of school will be half days for students. School starts Monday. Teachers will use the afternoons that week for additional professional development, while many schools will also use that first week to hold events to distribute class materials to students.

“We ask parents for their patience and understanding that this system of educating students is new to us, too," Maleyko said. "We know there will probably be hiccups as we bring more than 20,000 students back to class in a way that has never been done before in Dearborn. The first week will be a phase-in period for all of us.

“While we still hope to return most of our students to in-person learning this year, in the meantime we are carefully planning and working to make the most of online learning across the district.”