All Mishawaka students will be starting off the school year virtually. The School City of Mishawaka board approved a back-to-school plan during a special meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Mishawaka Schools originally planned to have an in-person learning option for students along with two other virtual options - but the St. Joseph County Health Department issued guidance recommending all students in the county start virtually due to rising COVID-19 case numbers.
Mishawaka’s updated reopening plan requires all students to do virtual learning for at least the first six weeks of class.
Mishawaka School Superintendent Wayne Barker said the reopening plan is fluid and will continue to be looked at as the school year and the pandemic continues.
“We would much prefer to be in-person if we could safely do that. Our teachers and staff want to be with their students...but obviously it’s not a safe environment based on the guidance we received from the health department.”
The school board also approved the purchase of one thousand chrome books to prepare students for elearning. Mishawaka students go back to school on August 12th.
Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating at: https://wvpe.thankyou4caring.org/
