The Kalamazoo Public Schools will stay all-virtual for the rest of the school year. The district's board voted Thursday to stick with that plan despite an intense public campaign to re-open at least some in-person classes. Kalamazoo Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri defended her decision to remain online-only because of the pandemic.
"I understand that the February 11th decision to remain fully virtual was disappointing to many families. Nobody is arguing with that. However, this year, there were a number of various circumstances which made in-person learning difficult."
The vote was not unanimous. Trustee Ken Greschak says he thinks staying online-only is a mistake.
"97% of our districts across the state are going to be offering some sort of in-person education. You know, that makes Kalamazoo a pretty profound outlier."
But six other board members say they support Raichoudhuri's decision. The superintendent says a plan to reopen classrooms would be disrupted by every positive COVID test as new, more infectious strains are spreading.
