Pontiac school district prepares for return to in-person learning amid pandemic

PONTIAC, Mich. – The School District of the City of Pontiac is considering mandatory summer school as it prepares to stage a return to face-to-face learning starting Monday. Nearly half the students in the district will remain in remote learning models.

When students start to return to their classrooms on Monday, they may notice an additional metal detector at the doors. As part of $3.5 million in spending to create a safe learning space students who do return will see changes.

The safety measures are visible. Desks will be spaced out, there will be partitions and there will be air purifiers in each classroom.

Officials said while students were learning remote, a learning loss was measured at a minus two grade levels. The district said it believes it’s gotten most students back to a minus a single grade level. That means, the COVID-19 pandemic has cost students across the board in Pontiac a deficit of at least a full grade level.

Because of that learning loss, the district is considering not ending the school year in June.

Watch the video above for the full report.

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