Fewer K-12 students will likely have to stay home from school because of exposure to COVID under new recommendations from the state health department. But local schools and health departments will have the final say on safety rules this year.
Ron French
Ron French is the senior enterprise reporter at Bridge Michigan, covering a wide range of topics including rural communities, federal policy impacts, education and public health. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter, and previously reported for newspapers across Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University.
Rooted in Okemos, Ron has become a true Michigander — complete with a family cabin Up North.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
More Michigan 3rd-graders struggled to read amid COVID, remote learning
African-American and low-income third-graders were far more likely to be flagged for possible retention due to low reading test scores than their white or non-poor classmates. How many students are actually being held back remains unclear.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Majority of Michigan students must now mask up, as Ingham, Washtenaw add rules
Eight of the nine most populous counties in the state now have orders requiring face masks in school buildings.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Michigan student test scores slump, as COVID halts slow progress
Scores fall, in some cases alarmingly so. But educators caution against reading too much into results from a year in which students were in and out of classrooms.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Which Michigan school COVID measures work? We asked scientists
Schools tried a bit of everything to keep students safe last year. Some of those efforts are being pared back now as schools and health officials learn more about what appears to help reduce COVID, and what doesn’t.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Six northern Michigan counties join Wayne with newest school mask mandates
The latest counties to mandate masks in schools are Wayne, Benzie, Leelanau, Emmet, Charlevoix, Otsego and Antrim.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Almost half of Michigan students now in schools with COVID mask mandates
Even without a statewide school mask mandate, many Michigan students will be required to wear face coverings when they return to classrooms in the coming days.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Michigan college enrollment dropped amid COVID, group urges state to step in
Low-income students aren’t going to college at the rates they were before the pandemic. Is it time for the state to make higher ed more affordable?
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Q & A: Small-town Michigan superintendent tells why he is mandating masks
With no state mandate, local Michigan superintendents are being forced to make tough decisions on whether to require face masks to protect against COVID this fall. The debate is dividing communities like Eaton Rapids.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
State’s top doc to Whitmer: School mask mandate would reduce COVID in Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who said she would “follow the science” on pandemic policy, is apparently not following the advice of her chief medical officer on school face mask mandates.
