St. Gerard, Fowler High School shift online after COVID outbreaks
Craig LyonsLANSING – COVID-19 outbreaks at St. Gerard Catholic School and Fowler High School prompted administrators to shift classes online for two weeks.
St. Gerard in Delta Township reported six cases – five staff members and one student, according to the Diocese of Lansing. Fowler High School reported two cases but did not say if they were students or staff members.
The diocese moved classes at St. Gerard online for the entire school, which is about 378 students. In-person classes are set to resume Nov. 2, diocese spokesman David Kerr said.
“As a school community, the health and well-being of our students and staff is paramount to us, and so we had no hesitation in moving to online learning which, thanks be to God, is working well and we look forward to being back in-person at the start of November," Principal Ray Rzepecki said.
The outbreak at St. Gerard’s is the second time the school has altered operations because of COVID-19 since the school year began.
St. Gerard School told students to quarantine and moved to online instruction after a teacher at the junior high tested positive for the virus in September, the diocese reported. The school did not report any other students or teachers testing positive for COVID-19.
Students at Fowler High School are expected to return to in-person classes Nov. 3, Superintendent Neil Hufnagel said. Fowler High School has roughly 170 students, according to the Department of Education.
The COVID cases at Fowler High School have not affected extracurricular activities, including sports, Hufnagel said.
“We were able to isolate the cases through contact tracing,” Hufnagel said.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has previously reported outbreaks at St. Martha’s School in Okemos, Michigan State University and Olivet College.
The state updates its list of COVID outbreaks in schools on Mondays.
Contact reporter Craig Lyons at 517-377-1047 or calyons@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @craigalyons.