After consulting with the Washtenaw Community Health Department (WCHD), Burns Park Elementary School will delay going back in-person to Wednesday, Oct. 20, instead of Monday, Oct. 18. 

“We feel strongly that this is the best path for a safe return to resume our work and play at Burns Park Elementary School,”  Superintendent Jeanice K. Swift, Community and Health Executive Director Jenna Bacolor and Principals Chuck Hatt and Leslee Bullock write. 

According to the email, it was crucial to extend the closure in order to have a safe and sustainable return

 “We are hopeful that student cases are mild and that additional family members do not contract the disease,” the email reads. 

With the transition to remote learning there have been several more COVID-19 cases and since last Friday, Burns Park has reported 34 COVID-19 cases.  

There may be additional cases in siblings and two staff members who were vaccinated contracted COVID-19 these last few weeks in accordance with the communication. 

“We continue to be grateful for your action in watching for symptoms, securing tests, and communicating quickly with us,” Swift, Bacolor, Hatt and Bullock say. “It is your strong partnership that will get us to the other side of this COVID situation.”

 The 34 cases reported (mentioned above) not all are on the AAPS COVID-19 dashboard, as some students were in quarantine when they tested positive.