LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) — Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart issued a statement after Friday’s press conference by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer, and the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, have asked high schools to switch to remote learning for the next two weeks and for youth sports — contact and non-contact — the suspend all practices and games for the two weeks after spring break.
“When we say that the health and safety of our students must be our priority, that’s not just lip service or a catchy message,” Herbart said in a message emailed to media Friday, April 9, 2021. “As educators, nothing is more important to us – which is why we fully support the governor’s call for in-person high school learning and youth sports to take a two-week break amidst rising COVID-19 cases.”
She went on to encourage “all school districts, community colleges and universities to take similar action at all levels.”
Despite most of pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade educators being vaccinated, Herbart noted “the same cannot be said for the students we serve.”
She echoed concerns expressed by Whitmer, Khaldun and Spectrum Health CEO Tina Freese Decker that the current surge is affecting younger people, mostly 10- to 19-year-olds, and “threatens the health of individual students, their classmates, their families and their communities.”
While research has shown ways schools can be safe for in-person learning, that doesn’t apply during outbreaks or surges, which put classrooms in a higher-risk category, according to Herbart.
“Too many students’ educations are being interrupted by quarantines and exposure to COVID-19,” Herbart said. “While switching to virtual learning is a challenge for educators and students alike, making a controlled switch is far less disruptive than individuals having to be quarantined for two weeks on a moment’s notice.”
She said the current surges is a sign that people need to unite, in masking up, maintaining physical distance, avoiding gatherings, getting tested (especially those who made spring-break trips). She also urged people ages 16 and older to get vaccinated.
The Michigan Education Association dates back to 1852, and currently represents about 120,000 of Michigan’s teachers, education support professionals and higher-education employees.
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