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Gov. Whitmer will announce plans for rest of Michigan school year Thursday

Published  March 31, 2020 6:00pm EDT
Coronavirus in Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit

ROCHESTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that coordinating the early end of school due to coronavirus for more than 1.5 million students is a difficult job and plans to release her schedule on Thursday 

Bridge Magazine reported late Monday that the governor planned to graduate all seniors while other students would move up to the next grade, as long as they were on course to pass their current grade.

Whitmer said there are roughly 1.5 million students in Michigan and every district and student has different needs and challenges. She said the decision is not about speed but it's important to 'get it right'.

Rochester High School Teacher Chris Guyor said these actions are necessary for our children's futures.

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"As the news came out it was more apparent that this is much worse than we thought," Guyor said. "Everyone started to get the feeling that it would be shut down, unfortunately."

RELATED: Track Michigan coronavirus cases by county with this interactive map

He's been teaching for 25 years and says about 75-percent of his students are seniors who will be missing out on year-end traditions.

"All that stuff is gone now and you don't get a second shot at that stuff. So it's been hard for a lot of the seniors I've been communicating with," he said. 

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As for younger students, he said parents don't need to be worried about their children being behind other kids.

"I know a lot of parents are concerned about that because they feel it puts their kids at a disadvantage but the reality is every kid in the country is facing the same thing," Guyor said.

Rochester HS teacher regrets seniors losing traditions but knows coronavirus closures are necessary

A Rochester High School teacher says his students have lost a lot of year-end traditions but says the closures to stop the spread of coronavirus are necessary.

The order would also reportedly allow all schools to stay closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and no third-grade students would be flunked for failure to read.

Online learning is an option but there's no requirement for students to be online. That leaves many parents, students, and teachers in limbo.

RELATED: Social distancing: What to do and what not to do to slow the spread of COVID-19

"Since we can't require the work to be done we can't give grades either so we're going to wait to see what the district says to do or what the state says to do," Guyor said.

FOX 2 is told Republican state lawmakers aren't on board with ending the school year yet but would like students to eventually have a summer school type of program if the pandemic threat is over by then.

"Keep your kids safe, this will pass. Science will catch up with this and we'll be able to tackle it and things will return to normal. And their kids will be stronger I think for that," Guyor said.