Talent & Education

Some Michigan schools are bringing students back to classrooms, while others are preparing for possibly going virtual. No decision is easy — or permanent — during a pandemic.

Michigan parents and educators who want to dive into school data now have a streamlined and updated website to use, part of Michigan’s effort to make it easier to find school information.

There has been no effort from the federal government to systematically track school openings and COVID outbreaks. That means we are often relying on data from those who volunteer it, and lack good information about how schools that have reopened might differ from those that have not.

The Detroit Financial Review Commission voted Monday to release the Detroit Public Schools Community District from state financial oversight until the end of 2021, a crucial step in the district’s efforts to control its budget and finances.

There are outbreaks in 99 Michigan school buildings, and more than 4,400 cases on college campuses. Still, there were signs the spread was slowing or receding in the past week.

Libertas Christian School in Hudsonville says health rules infringe on its religious liberties and free speech. Health officials say two teachers tested positive for COVID-19 and the school won’t cooperate with contact tracers.

Saying coronavirus cases are the result of off-campus partying rather than classroom interaction, MSU is moving aggressively to increase in-person classes and on-campus housing beginning in January.

In an unusually blunt letter expressing the limits of their ability to control COVID-19 spread, 46 school superintendents pleaded with their communities to mask-up to help keep schools open.

In issuing the order, which runs until Election Day, local health and university officials are trying to rein in student social gatherings in an effort to flatten a spike in coronavirus cases. But, hey, football games will go on.

Very few young people infected by COVID-19 become seriously ill. But public health experts say the transmission of the virus among healthy students can endanger more vulnerable Michiganders.

There are outbreaks in 84 Michigan schools in 31 counties, and college cases top 5,000, says a state report released Monday.

Michigan’s public universities and community colleges report thousands fewer college freshmen, echoing national trends. Studies show that many students who do not go directly to college never enroll.

College football is back. Game Day celebrations, not so much. Michigan State University’s president is discouraging fans from gathering to watch the opening game.

Cases on college campuses continue to rise, but the good news is that K-12 schools continue to have few COVID-19 infections. Parents also can now get faster disclosure of coronavirus cases in their local schools.

The administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is moving quickly to reinstate a school coronavirus reporting mandate that was struck down Friday by the state’s high court.

How does Friday’s Supreme Court ruling upending Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency power authority impact coronavirus mandates in Michigan schools? We answer some of your major questions.

How much you’ll learn about coronavirus cases in your student’s school depends on where you live. A Bridge Michigan analysis shows parents still can’t depend on schools or local health departments to voluntarily alert them to outbreaks.

Health officials say the school followed safety protocols, and the cases that suddenly proliferated in Carson City show how a coronavirus outbreak can happen anywhere. The district has ended in-person classes.

The number of K-12 schools with coronavirus outbreaks jumped from 28 to 46 schools in just a week. And there are now over 3,800 confirmed cases at colleges and universities across Michigan, numbers that are likely an undercount.

COVID-19 cases have quintupled in Houghton County in the western Upper Peninsula this month. The halt to in-person learning is scheduled to extend to Oct. 12.