Michigan K-12 schools

Michigan’s high schools are ordered to be closed through Dec. 8, but with another holiday just two weeks later, some school districts are choosing to not reopen until after the new year.

The students who need in-person instruction the most are among the least likely to get it, new Michigan data shows.

Michigan schools are uncertain how many students who’ve fled public schools during the pandemic will return when there is a vaccine.

The Troy School District in suburban Detroit shut down its in-person classrooms last week because of an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Just like that, life for the Onyx family was back to impossible.

With coronavirus cases surging across Michigan, schools are facing not only a health crisis, but a staffing crisis: There aren’t enough substitute teachers to replace classroom teachers who are infected or quarantined.

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.

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.