Marian High School in Mishawaka. Tribune Photo/MICHAEL CATERINA
St. Joseph County schools are making varying decisions on in-person instruction as the area’s COVID-19 numbers worsen, with some having leaned more toward state and federal guidelines that are looser than what county public health officials think are safe.
After allowing only online learning so far this school year, South Bend Community School Corp. this week started a hybrid format, allowing students to attend in-person two days a week, prompting the teacher’s union to take out a full-page Tribune advertisement Wednesday arguing the return has been “rushed” and is unsafe for teachers.
In Mishawaka, Marian High School, which had been teaching students entirely in person, switched Thursday to hybrid until at least Oct. 30, citing “an increase in the number of confirmed positive cases within the school community,” according to a letter that Principal Mark Kirzeder sent to parents, obtained by The Tribune.
Because it has players quarantined after contact tracing determined they had been exposed to people who have tested positive, Marian Thursday announced it had canceled its highly anticipated football game Friday against Elkhart. Both teams are undefeated.
It was unclear how many new cases Marian has seen. The private school is reporting its student and staff cases to the Indiana State Department of Health’s online schools COVID-19 dashboard, but the state updates it only on Mondays.
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