Wayland, Hopkins and Martin school officials are all planning to return in-person for the 2021-22 academic year.
Superintendents Dr. Christina Hinds at Wayland, Gary Wood at Hopkins and Brooke Ballee-Stone all have indicated that unless a crisis erupts over the summer, in-person classroom sessions will resume. This, in the wake of a year and a half coping with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ballee-Stone commented, “This has been the strangest two years of my entire professional career. What a time to be a new superintendent! I have learned so much about resilience, perseverance and fortitude from the staff and community here in Martin, but, mostly from the students.”
Martin spent the entire 2020-21 academic year implementing an in-person instruction plan, except when the state ordered all virtual learning because of Covid spikes. Wayland spent most of the year in hybrid model and Hopkins successfully switched to a four-days per week in-person system.
At Wayland, all students, Young 5s through 12th grade, will return to school for a half day Monday, Aug. 23. However, Wayland Union Schools will return to school following a 100% in-person model of instruction for the 2021-2022 school year.
Parents who would like Wayland to consider offering a virtual option for instruction, please complete this brief survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yZLC2P8Zj9LPmObTXRQc_g-y7mI7l-3BbFvHjRz9-Q4/edit.
Hopkins schools reported on its web site, “All buildings within the Hopkins Public school system will be in session five days/week for in-person instruction beginning next fall, unless otherwise required by agencies with jurisdiction in such matters.
“Masks will be optional in schools beginning fall 2021 if they are no longer required by law. However, there may be times when masks are required for a period of time, such as when an outbreak occurs.
“Quarantines may still exist; to what extent will be determined by the Allegan County Health Department. The district has no jurisdiction in determining quarantines, it simply provides close contact information.
The Virtual Academy of Allegan County (VAAC) will no longer exist as a service to families and school districts next year.
