LANSING, Mich. — The class of 2020 will find out in two days if they'll get to finish their senior year or if it's already over.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will announce her decision Thursday on whether Michigan schools will close for the rest of the school year.
She said she hasn't made up her mind yet and she knows millions of students and parents want an answer now.
"Trust me as a parent with a senior and a junior myself I'm hearing the questions inside my own household," Whitmer said. "But it's most important to me that we have got a real plan to meet the educational needs of our students, that we support our teachers and that we make decisions based on what is in the best interest of our kids, not what's most convenient, not what's most helpful to one group or another. This is about the education of our children and that's what's paramount."
Monday night, "Bridge Magazine" reported the governor will close schools for the rest of the year and require some sort of online-learning component for the remaining months.
That has some parents and administrators wondering exactly how it's going to work.
Gov. Whitmer said she has not made her decision yet, but if the reports are accurate there are lot of questions schools will have to answer in a very short amount of time.
Lori Brown has four kids in the school system.
She said having her kids at home is a great challenge.
"We've got one computer and four kids," Brown said. "So that is the hard part is trying to regulate them so each one is doing an hour or two per child and it consumes the whole day."
Some parents and educators are worried about the possibility of required online classes and about how poor internet connections could affect them.
"There are many many dead areas and whether if people have the equipment or not they do not have that consistent accessibility for the internet," said Geoff Bontrager, Northwest Community Schools superintendent.
To help students, Bontrager said teachers would hold online office hours for students and supply educational resources in the summer.
Right now, teachers are trying to help their students the best they can despite the circumstances.
However, Brown said the teachers are spread too thin and can't always have immediate interaction with the students.
"They are working with them quite a bit, but it's not the instant messages, it's not the instant answers they need to get," Brown said. "They have to wait for their teacher to respond and if they still don't understand it it's messaging again. Its back and fourth, back and fourth quite a few times."
Brown said the kids just want to go back to school.
"They're beyond bored. They want to go back. They want to visit their friends and be with their friends. They love school," said Brown.
Gov. Whitmer isn't commenting on the specifics of the report that came out Monday night, including the suggestion that seniors will graduate and everyone else will move up a grade.
Gov. Whitmer is expected to address the reports Thursday.
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