ESCANABA — Escanaba Area Public Schools are relaying information on how a decision was made to temporarily close the Escanaba Senior/Junior High School building due to COVID-19 cases. The building was closed on Sept. 25 and will remain closed until Oct. 12. Classes have not been canceled and are continuing online.

School officials said they received numerous questions about the closure and offered additional information on how the decision came about.

The school’s clarification states:

The Escanaba Area Public Schools makes decisions regarding COVID-19 closures using guidance from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and in collaboration with our local Health Department. These decisions depend on two factors: 1) the County Level Risk Determination, and 2) whether or not a building has no cases of COVID-19, has known cases of COVID-19, or is experiencing ongoing transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff. Data regarding the County Level Risk Determination, cases of COVID-19 among students and staff, and instances of ongoing transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff is provided by the Health Department. Once this information is received, the District responds appropriately based on the guidance it has.

At the end of the school day on Wednesday, September 23, Delta County was at a ‚”Very High” County Level Risk Determination. However, all identified cases of COVID-19 in the District were the result of individuals contracting the virus outside of school. Consequently, the District simply followed quarantine procedures. Any case of COVID-19 resulted in the infected student and all close contacts of that student being quarantined. As of last Wednesday, approximately 1/3 of the Junior High/Senior High population was in some form of quarantine. However, MDHHS guidance permitted the continuation of face to face instruction.

On Thursday, September 24, the Health Department identified a case of ongoing transmission of COVID-19 on the Junior High/Senior High campus. This means that COVID-19 cases were not only coming in from outside the building, they were also being transmitted within the building. According to MDHHS guidance,

Delta County’s “Very HHigh‚”Risk Determination level combined with the identification of ongoing transmission on a campus results in closure of that campus to in-person instruction for a period of up to 28 days.

Upon receiving information about ongoing transmission on campus, the Junior High/Senior High Administration, including the Athletic Director and the Superintendent, met to discuss an appropriate response. After a conference call with the Health Department and notifying the Board of Education, the Administration made the decision to close the Junior High/Senior High to in-person instruction for a period of 14 days. The District chose a 14-day period rather than a 28-day period because 14 days aligns with the normal length of quarantine. By choosing a 14-day pause to in-person instruction, the District minimized the pause as much as possible while ensuring that no student who was quarantined at the start of the pause will still be quarantined for school-related reasons at the end of the pause.

Because the sole purpose of the pause to in-person instruction on a campus is to prevent any school-related exposure to COVID-19, the District also paused all after school activities and events at the Junior High/Senior High. The experience of our own school and schools around us demonstrates that COVID-19 spreads as actively among athletes and other participants in extracurricular activities as it does in school. As the MDHHS notes, ‚Ä”individualbuildings become early indicators of future spread and their

status impacts the rest of the ddistrict.‚”To reduce the risk of any further school-related exposure to COVID-19, a pause of this degree is unfortunate but necessary.

As the Junior High/Senior High transitions to remote instruction, we encourage everyone to follow Health Department guidelines for reducing the spread of COVID-19. The most significant factor that will prevent future pauses to in-person instruction and campus activities is a reduction in cases of COVID-19 in Delta County. This will lower both our County Level Risk Determination and the number of cases brought into the schools from the outside, which in turn diminishes the chance that ongoing transmission will take place on campuses.