The Warren Sun

Warren Consolidated Schools issued the following announcement on Nov. 13.

One teacher from Lean Elementary and one from Carter Middle School have tested positive for COVID-19. 

All students and staff affected have been notified, and all areas of the schools have been appropriately cleaned . This past week, they had the opportunity to speak with a few parents who asked an important question of how athletics and extra-curricular activities can still operate at school but not in-person learning. First, our decision to pause our return to in-person learning was due to the disruption caused when someone tests positive for COVI D-19, requiring others to quarantine for 14 days. 

It was not due to the spread of the virus in our schools as the re have been very few school related cases throughout the entire district. However, when a student or staff member tests positive, it often requires other students and staff members to quarantine, which would make in-person learning difficult to manage if we did not have enough teachers, bus drivers, and other staff to operate school. With cases significantly increasing in our area, the potential for widespread disruption of school is highly probable, which also has been the case in other school districts around us . 

Second, for athletics, marching band, and extra-curricular activities, when we make the decision to start or stop them due to a case of COVID-19 and quarantine students and staff, it is on a much smaller, simpler scale than an entire school. In fact, during fall sports, we quarantined several teams and coaches due to cases of COVI D-19 that did not originate at school or from the team. Along with these activities being voluntary for students, they do not pose the same level of disruption if they had occurred in a school. Most important,  they want the community to know that we monitor our cases daily, often hourly, and they receive a daily briefing from our WCS Security and Crisis Management Team. Along with consultation from the Macomb County Health Department and the Michigan High School Athletic Association, our focus is on student and staff safety, which is why we have not had any major outbreaks in our schools. They will continue to update you, as necessary. As always, please stay safe and be healthy.

Original source can be found here.