Return to Learn Update

April 9, 2021   

Dear Holly High School Parents,

School Leaders across Michigan were caught off guard this morning with news from the Governor's office which encouraged school districts to voluntarily close high schools and athletics for two weeks following Spring Break. 

There was no advance notice or dialogue with school leaders prior to this press conference.  School Districts should not be asked to make health decisions for the Governor, MDHHS, and/or local health departments. 

We insist that the Governor, MDHHS, and our local health departments step up and fulfill their responsibility to make clear and concise decisions regarding health and safety for the citizens of Michigan.  MDHHS and county health departments have the authority to mandate closures. Putting these decisions on school districts is completely irresponsible and unacceptable.

Unfortunately, there is also a disconnect in this morning’s message regarding that many districts have already returned from Spring Break.  We will continue with our previously scheduled assessments for next week as recently communicated by high school administration.  At this time, athletics will also continue unless there is a specific mandate made by the health departments and/or MHSAA to pause.

I would also like our parents to know that Holly High School currently has over 50% of our students who are full-time Remote/Virtual students.  For our full-time In-Person population, our classrooms continue to follow all of the required protocols and mitigation measures.  Like all school districts across Michigan, we will continue to enforce quarantine protocols when alerted by a positive COVID-19 case.  It is important to understand that the district does not have control over issues related to positive COVID-19 cases outside of the school district that result in the quarantine of students.  Therefore, we will continue to monitor the number of positive cases and number of quarantined students across our district to determine if there is a need to shift programming to remote/virtual learning at any of our buildings.

With all of this said, we respect our families wishes.  If parents of our high school In-Person students would like to shift to remote learning for two weeks, we will continue to accommodate teaching and learning for their student(s) as we have in the past.  Fortunately, our cohort schedule at the high school with teachers providing daily instruction to both In-Person and Virtual students will permit for this to happen.

Please continue to be safe and responsible at school and out of school. Please continue to check our district website for updates regarding our Return to Learn Plan.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. 

Sincerely,

Scott M. Roper, Superintendent

HAS Return to Learn Update April 9 2021