Ann Arbor Public School operations have been impacted by COVID and the omicron surge in January 2022.
Decision Making Process
In the Town Hall on January 5, they said the decision on Virtual vs In Person would be made based on the ability to safely staff the schools. If absences are wide spread across the district, the decision will be made district wide. If absences are concentrated in certain schools or even grade levels within schools, those groups will remain virtual while others will return in person. It is possible that only a classroom or two would be virtual
After school on Friday, January 7, AAPS held a testing event for 1000 teachers and staff. This information combined with prior testing events and information on when teachers and staff can exit quarantine after a prior positive test allows theme to estimate their staffing levels for January 9-14..
January 26 Virtual Early Release
January 26 has been on the calendar as an early release day all year. The day will now be a virtual day with early release. Students will login to their classes remotely as they have on other virtual days. The day will follow the normal early release schedule.
All Schools Were Virtual January 5-10
All schools will be virtual on Monday with most schools returning to In Person on Tuesday, January 11.
January 11-Beyond
The situation will vary by school. Some schools will be fully virtual, others have some classes in person and others virtual Because of this communication is at the school level. I will need help in building a list.
Schools Remaining Fully Virtual
January 24-28
As of Friday, January 21 all schools will be fully in person except for Wednesday’s early release which will be virtual.
Tuesday, January 18-Friday, January 21
- Skyline
- Pathways
Wednesday, January 19-Friday, January 21
- King Elementary
If we get additional information on the rest of the week, we will let you know. We ask that you update us as well by email – annamae@annarborwithkids.com – since announcements don’t go out at the district level.
Schools Returning Partially In Person, Partially Virtual
Additional schools may have select classrooms or grades remaining virtual. This will be announced as it gets closer to Tuesday. Watch your email for communications from your children’s teachers and principals.
To my knowledge this was not used the week of January 10-14, but that could change moving forward
Schools Returning Fully In Person
All other schools are anticipating a return to In Person on Tuesday, January 11. However, watch for communications from your school on classes or grade levels or even whole schools that get moved to the virtual list.
Transportation Issues
AAPS also said there may be transportation disruptions. If your child rides a bus, make sure to have a backup plan in place in case the bus cannot run.
At 9p on Monday, January 10, AAPS posted the following bus routes that will not operate. This disruption is expected to last until Monday, January 24.:
Routes were scheduled to resume on Monday, January 24. On Friday, January 21 it was announced that some routes will be extended for an additional week. Parents/Guardians of students on affected routes will be notified. At this time the district website is not yet updated
- 28 Wines Forsythe and Skyline
- 30 Pattengill Tappan
- 34 Angell Clague
- 36 Allen Huron
- 68 Wines Skyline
- 70 Haisley Slauson
- 72 Angell Tappan
- 75 Carpenter Tappan
- 85 Lakewood Slauson Pioneer
- 91 King Clague Huron
- 94 Logan Clague Huron
- 96 King Huron
- 97 Thurston Huron
- 102 Haisley Forsythe
- 110 Logan Ann Arbor Open
- 127 Thurston Clague
- 129 Byrant Scarlett
- 131 Wines Forsythe
- 134 A2 STEAM Community
- 149 Scarlett
Mask Compliance
My daughter’s high school stated that if students have to be repeatedly corrected about masks that they will be sent home for the day. I am glad it is finally being addressed. My daughter has had a couple kids in her classes who are routinely out of compliance and says she often sees the same kids without proper masks in the hallway. She did report that masking was better the week of January 11-14 than prior to winter break..
Resources for in Person Learning
If your child is in a class that is returning in person, I suggest having a backup plan in case they are not able to sustain the in person learning. While the district is making the decision based on actual and predicted staffing levels, they don’t have an idea of how student attendance will be affected. The state requires 75% attendance for the day to count as a full school day.
The newest recommendation is for N95 style masks or surgical masks. Cloth masks are not the current CDC recommendation. For my teen, we plan to layer a surgical mask with a cloth mask over top. The links below show the surgical masks we bought and the equivalent in kids sizes (other colors are available), the N95 masks we bought, and a kids KF94. The KF94 masks are a South Korean mask that provides nearly equivalent protection as the N95 and are more tightly regulated than the Chinese KN95 masks.
Vaccination Clinics
Vaccination and Boosters are the best way to minimize your chance of contracting COVID and minimizing your symptoms. AAPS Has also announced 3 additional vaccination clinics. We have added them to our list of upcoming vaccination clinics.
Resources for Virtual Learners
With another week of virtual learning, it may be worth looking at our suggestions from last year to create the best virtual learning environment for your child
We will also be verifying the plans for free lunch distribution during Virtual Learning. If you cannot pickup at the high schools, they do have delivery options available. Please make sure to contact food services for help.
