By David Fleet
Editor
The ripple effects of the coronavirus has left Heath and Peggy Zietz with a big decision to make.
“My wife and I prefer our kids, Isaac and Horatio attend school in person next term, they will be attending Kindergarten and Preschool at Harvey Swanson,” said Heath, a Brandon Township resident. “We are open to doing a combination of in-person and virtual instruction however our preference is to do schooling in person full time.”
The Zietz are among millions of parents statewide that due to the coronavirus, which abruptly shuttered classes last March, must now decide how their children will return to school this fall.

The Brandon School District has decided on two options for schooling in the fall for parents to choose from. The deadline was Aug. 10.
The two options presented for phases four and five of reopening are in-person or online.
As of Aug. 11 in the Brandon School District, 792 students have enrolled in the Brandon Learn from Home program, with about 1,500 now in the in-person option.
“We’ve offered the virtual school for the past nine years,” said Matt Outlaw, Brandon School superintendent. This spring, teachers received extensive training and will receive additional training before the year begins. Our teachers excelled in this environment this spring which has helped build a lot of trust with our families. Our families know that our teachers will go above and beyond for students in any environment.”
Outlaw said every student will receive a computer, whether working from home or in-person.
“Regarding bus transportation for the in-person learning, we believe that we will have around 25-30 students per bus based on the requests from parents and we do not plan to reduce routes,” he said. “Also, our classrooms are large which allows for desks to be social distanced in our classrooms.”
The online option would be an alternative for in-person while still having students learn from Brandon teachers while learning from home. The students doing the learn-from-home option would be on course with the curriculum at the speed the in-school option would.
The second option, the in-person option, had been heavily discussed and features class five days a week, full time for students. The in-person option will include the wearing of masks for students and staff, with elementary age students only being required in the hallways, buses and common areas. In classrooms, it will be required for grades 6-12 and recommended for grades preschool-5.
“The preschool did a great job last year having virtual schooling for our oldest son, but we felt he was getting too distracted at times being home and we could tell that he was doing a much better job learning in a normal classroom environment,” said Heath. “We also feel it is better for them to get into a better routine, socializing with other children their age, and just having more time away from mom and dad out of the house.”
Goodrich Area Schools also offers two learning options for students this fall. The two options presented are for phases four and five of reopening are in-person or online.
As of Aug. 11, about 400 students will be going virtual this fall, leaving about 1,600 students face-to-face, reported Wayne Wright, Goodrich School district superintendent during the Monday school board of trustees meeting.
The five days a week of in-person learning within the districts buildings is guided by the Governor’s Return to School Roadmap, created a plan to reopen the district in a way that maximizes safety, learning, and the well-being of students and staff. Goodrich Virtual, is a fully remote option where students will work directly with a Goodrich teacher and learn virtually through course content that is aligned to the Michigan Common Core State Standards.
“Our learning plan has been submitted to the GISD,” said Wright.
Genesee County-wide Flint, Beecher, Carman-Ainsworth and Fenton are all virtual. Other districts have plans for face-to-face or some type of hybrid option. The majority of county school districts are opening on Aug. 31, like Goodrich.
“The last survey (of parents) was about 83 percent face-to-face and 17 percent virtual,” he said. “We are going to need to hire anywhere for four to seven teachers. We need to see just what grades they are (needed). The other concern, if we have this (additional teachers) for the first semester and everyone comes back (to school face-to-face) we’ll have to look to incorporate those students back in the classroom.”
It’s all about a good start for students this fall, said Heath.
“We certainly understand the concerns that other parents have about sending their children back to school, we ourselves have concerns that we are making the wrong decision, but in the end we weighed the risk,” said Heath. “So far based on the data, COVID-19 is not as harmful to younger individuals, but if our children do not get a good start with their education, then that could impact them negatively in the long-term as well.”