Large virtual enrollment pushes first day to August 31
IMLAY CITY — Imlay City students get to enjoy one more week of summer vacation. Last night at an emergency meeting, the school board gave the okay to move the first day of classes from August 24 to August 31.
District leaders said the change was necessitated by the larger-than- anticipated interest in their Virtual Learning Academy. Approximately 450 of Imlay City’s 2,200 student body—or 20 percent—wants to learn from home instead of attending in-person this fall. Supt. Dr. Stu Cameron said they anticipated that number would be closer to 200.
As a result, school staff needs additional time to prepare equipment, namely Chromebooks, for students to use. Cameron said that administrators will also need time to meet to discuss potentially deploying some teachers into new roles for the 2020-2021 school year.
“We want to keep all of our students on the same schedule,” President Sharon Muir said during the virtual meeting.
Cameron said the district has had issues securing laptops due to high demand. More than 1,000 Chromebooks are on order but won’t arrive in time for the start of the school year. The district managed to find a new vendor who was able to ship 500 of the laptops just this week and they anticipate receiving them in the coming days.
