The Hastings Banner — Thursday, April 22, 2021 — Page 3Maple Valley forced into virtual learning
Other area districts maintain in-person instruction
Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
Maple Valley Schools had to move its
junior and senior high students to two weeks
of virtual learning after nearly half of those
students did not show up for class last
Thursday.
Superintendent Katherine Bertolini said
some classrooms had less than five students in
attendance that day.
The district has 393 students in grades 7
through 12, of which 315 attend the Junior/
Senior High School face-to-face. But 149 of
those students were absent last Thursday, and
88 were counted as being in quarantine last
Friday.
Included in the quarantine are the varsity
baseball, junior varsity baseball and track
teams.
But golf, girls’ soccer and softball teams
are still able to compete.
While some other districts have experi-
enced an uptick in cases or students in quaran-
tine following the return from spring break,
administrators say it is not to the point of
moving to virtual learning.
As of Monday afternoon, Hastings Area
Schools had 17 students who tested positive
for the virus, including three virtual students.
Eight of the in-person students had been at the
high school.
The district had 136 students in quarantine,
including 35 from the high school.
“These numbers do change daily, but we
are currently optimistic,” Superintendent Matt
Goebel said Tuesday.
Delton Kellogg Schools currently has 10
positive cases among students, including six
from the high school.
“We have been quite lucky at this point,”
Thornapple Kellogg Assistant Superintendent
Craig McCarthy said Tuesday. “We have only
had a total of 11 positive cases since we have
returned from spring break – and only family
members have had to be quarantined.
“We will continue with in-person instruc-
tion in all of our buildings.”
The Barry-Eaton District Health
Department advises district officials to close
school buildings if they hit a quarantine rate
of 25 percent, since comprehensive tracking
and tracing of the virus would be virtuallyimpossible at that point.
Last Friday in Maple Valley, 28 percent of
junior/senior students were in quarantine.
Bertolini warned the Board of Education
that the building may have to move to virtual
learning during a regular meeting April 12.
She said the district would do everything it
could to keep students in the classroom, but if
the quarantine and absentee rate kept rising,
she would no longer have a choice.
“This is where it gets taken out of our
hands,” Bertolini told the board.
The number of absences continued to rise
in the following days, and it became even
more challenging for teachers to balance edu-
cation across in-person students, quarantined
students who were temporarily virtual, and
students who were already regular virtual
learners.
“We both exceeded our capacity to provide
our best teaching and learning due to the dif-
fusion of students in three areas, as well as our
ability to track and trace students who were
needing quarantine, as well as general absence
tracking.” Bertolini said.
Last Friday was the end of the district’ssecond week after returning from spring
break. Within that time, Maple Valley has had
12 positive cases of the virus, including one
instance of three people transmitting the virus
at school, which the state of Michigan defines
as an outbreak.
It was the first outbreak for the district
since the start of the pandemic.
“The majority of the cases resulted from
family contacts, particularly with Easter gath-
erings of families,” Bertolini said.
The elementary schools are not experienc-
ing the same surge of cases or quarantine, and
will remain in-person. The Junior/Senior High
School is set to return to in-person learning
May 3.
“In the meantime, please reinforce to your
students that our ability to host our fun spring
events will be dependent upon folks making
choices to mitigate spread while they are out
of school,” Bertolini said in a letter to parents.
“We deeply regret this need to convert to vir-
tual learning so close to the end of our year,and we hope this allows us to return and
remain in face-to-face learning through the
end of May.”
Lakewood Public Schools reported 14 new
cases of the virus, and 80 close contacts last
week.
“It’s safe to say that even one student in
quarantine is a concern because, not only do
we want students to remain healthy, we know
they are best-served instructionally and social/
emotionally in school as opposed to out of
school,” Lakewood Superintendent Steve
Skalka Wednesday. “With that said, we had
several reports of students identified as close
contacts coming out of spring break, but none
specific to a classroom, grade or building.
“Therefore, it is not necessary to move to
remote learning for any larger group. The
other positive information is the number of
students reported as close contacts dropped
dramatically after Wednesday of last week.”of attenders – at least the [Healthy Waters
Alliance] people – continue to show up,” Bob
Norton, Hope Township Planning Commission
chairman, said after last Thursday’s meeting.
“I’d expect that number of people would
increase, not decrease.”
And so the planning commission
unanimously charged its planner, Nathan
Mehmed, with finding a larger venue for its
next meeting, May 20 – and possibly for
future meetings, as well. Some suggested
locations were Camp Michiawana, for the
possible use of its chapel or dining hall, or a
Delton Kellogg school building.
“The goal is that nobody feels unable to
attend because of where the meeting is,”
Catherine Kaufman, attorney for the Hope
Township Planning Commission, said. “We
should have a larger venue where people want
to attend.”
But any other location for the meeting has
to be within the township’s limits, Kaufman
added.
The audience capacity at the township
hall, where the planning commission meetings
usually occur, is limited by attendance
restrictions.
The latest Michigan Department of Health
and Human Services epidemic order to
combat the spread of COVID-19 requires
attendees at public meetings be spaced at least
6 feet apart and wear masks.
Approximately 30 people attended last
Thursday’s meeting, according to planning
commission member Craig Jenkins.
At the commission’s March 18 meeting,
the number of people protesting the gravel
mine exceeded that number, so they had to file
in and file out, one by one, to make public
comment during the proceedings.
Before last Thursday’s meeting, protesters
lined the highway in front of the township hall
at 5463 S. M-43, and residents attended the
meeting to voice objections, which they have
expressed since the proposal was introduced
last summer.
Carol Mattson, who lives in the 6500
block of Woods Trail Drive, told planning
commission members about how she’d bought
her home for “peace and quiet.”
Kathy Slagter said she owns Peace of
Serenity Ranch. The ranch is approximatelyone mile from the proposed site.
“Everything about it is going to be wrong,”
Slagter said, expressing her love for “the
peace and serenity” of the lake. “It’s going to
be gone. Everything all day long is going to
be really loud. It’s going to be really big and
bothersome to have it behind me.”Wayne Ritchie, who said he lives on Rose
Road, said, “We don’t need the noise and dust
where we live. It’s going to be terrible.”
The next meeting of the Hope Township
Planning Commission is set for 6:30 p.m.
May 20 at the Hope Township Hall.Tim Kennedy brought dog Bizee to the protest in front of the Hope Township Hall
last Thursday.
Main page 3
Contracts extended for several
Delton Kellogg administrators
Sean Bradley
Staff Writer
Several officials at Delton Kellogg Schools
had their contracts extended by the district’s
board of education.
The board voted during its meeting Monday
to extend Delton Kellogg Schools
Superintendent Kyle Corlett’s contract
through June 30, 2024.
Contracts also were unanimously approved
to be extended through June 30, 2022, for
elementary school Principal Karmin Bourdo,
middle school Principal April Margaritis, high
school Principal Lucas Trierweiler, athletic
director Mike Mohn, and finance director
Andy Nurenburg.
The contracts, which are usually brought to
the board for possible renewal in May or June,
do not involve any pay increases, Corlett said
after the meeting.
“Since I have been at DKS, the admins
receive the same salary increases that the
teachers get. So, if it’s determined based on
negotiations or the teacher contract that
teachers will get a 1-percent or 2-percent
raise, then the admins receive that same
amount,” Corlett wrote in an email Tuesday.
Corlett recommended to the board thatthese contracts be extended.
“All I’d like to say is that it’s a nice gesture
to do it sooner this year, considering how
difficult it has been,” he wrote Tuesday.
Corlett is not a member of the school board,
so he doesn’t have a vote. He said he only
recommends actions to the board, which then
votes on his recommendations.
In July 2020, the board approved one-year
contract extensions for Trierweiler, Margaritis,
Bourdo, Mohn and Nurenburg.
The board also approved changes to two of
the district’s policies Monday evening. Emails
sent by district personnel are to be stored for
four years and then be deleted.
Another policy was changed to allow
employees to appeal results of fingerprints
taken throughout the course of background
checks. The district requires background
checks for employees every five years.
The next regular meeting of the board will
be at 7 p.m. May 17 in the media center at
Delton Kellogg Elementary School. The
meeting will be in person, but also will be
livestreamed.
The school’s website, dkschools.org has
more information.Hope Township residents line South M-43 Highway in front of Hope Township Hall to protest a proposed gravel mine on Wilkinson
Lake before last Thursday’s planning commission meeting.Bob Norton, Hope Township Planning
Commission chairman, said he expects
the number of residents who attend their
meetings to increase.Don Sklenka displays a mask used to
protect workers from exposure to silica
dust as he addresses the Hope Township
Planning Commission last Thursday.
Sklenka also brought a sealed vial he
said contained silica dust, which is toxic
and would be a product of the gravel min-
A map provided during last Thursday’s ing operation.
Hope Township Planning Commission
shows the location of Allegan-based
excavating contractor R. Smith and Sons
property where a portion of the gravel
mining operation would front along
Wilkinson Lake. (Photos by Scott
Harmsen)GRAVEL PITS, continued from page 1
Pop-up clinic to offer first doses Saturday
Spectrum Health Pennock will provide a
community-wide COVID-19 vaccine clinic
from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday at
Thornapple Kellogg Middle School gym-
nasium will provide 1,000 first doses of the
Pfizer vaccine to anyone age 16 and up.
On Wednesday, the seven-day positivity
rate across Spectrum Health’s 13-county
region was 16.5 percent, the highest it has
been in several months, hospital officials
said.
“Vaccines are critical to the health of our
community, and we encourage people to
get vaccinated to protect against COVID-
19 and protect loved ones,” Dr. Douglas
Smendik, primary care division chief for
Spectrum Health, said. “We are thankful for
our partnership with TK schools, the Barry-
Eaton District Health Department and
Barry County United Way and VolunteerCenter that are allowing us bring vaccine
clinics out into the county to increase
access and keep care close to home.”
Since February 2021, Pennock has
administered 6,738 vaccines. Individuals
interested in receiving a vaccine Saturday
during this clinic may register by visiting
spectrumhealth.org/vaccine or calling the
Vaccine Call Center at (833) 755-0696.
Spectrum Health Pennock’s scheduling
process has changed based on health depart-
ment guidelines and less restricted vaccine
supply. Information is available online at
spectrumhealth.org/vaccine. Click on
“Schedule Your Vaccination.” After answer-
ing some questions, a page will show the
Spectrum Health vaccination clinic loca-
tions, where an appointment for the
Thornapple Kellogg Middle School pop-
up clinic, or a location of choice, may beselected.
Appointment availability is based on
vaccine supply. As more shipments of vac-
cine are obtained, Spectrum will add new
appointments. New appointments will gen-
erally be released on a weekly basis. All
these appointments are offered for a first-
dose only.
Call center hours are from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. seven days a week. For those 16 to 18
years of age, phone contact must be made
and a parent or guardian must accompany
minors when they receive their vaccination.
The call center also can also help those
who need special assistance in getting
scheduled.
The COVID-19 vaccine is available at
no out-of-pocket cost. Insurance is not
required to register for an appointment.