News Photo by Crystal Nelson Jamie Snyder and her daughters spray each other on Tuesday at the splash pad at Mich-e-ke-wis Park.

ALPENA — Northeast Michigan public school officials on Tuesday dug through the details of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to reopen schools safely in the fall.

Students finished out last school year online and through correspondence courses after Whitmer closed schools in March to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, Whitmer said school districts must complete a Preparedness and Response Plan describing how they will protect students and staff if they return to school buildings in the fall.

Whitmer’s Safe Start plan requires districts to develop three plans: one for providing all in-person classes, one for providing all online classes, and another for a mix of the two. Whitmer’s plan also includes $256 million from the state to support those efforts.

The type of instruction would be tied to Whitmer’s six-phase regional approach to economically reopening the state.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula — including Alpena, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties — are in Phase 5 of the reopening plan, while areas south of those regions, including Alcona County, are in Phase 4.

In Phase 4, students in sixth grade and older must wear a face mask throughout the school day, except for lunch or if they medically can’t wear one. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade must wear masks when outside the classroom and on school buses.

In Phase 5, students won’t be required to wear masks but will be recommended to do so. Schools would be strongly recommended to do health screenings and send students with COVID-19 symptoms back home.

Alpena Superintendent John VanWagoner had yet to read through the fine details of Whitmer’s plan when contacted by The News on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re going to take a look at the document and begin to build what next year could look like,” he said.

“We’re excited that it’s out and gives us a timely opportunity to prepare for face-to-face instruction this fall,” said Scott Reynolds, superintendent of the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District. “I think that it allows flexibility for districts independently or in collaboration with (intermediate school districts) to come up with collaborative plans. We’ll certainly have that discussion with the local districts and see what the best fit is.”

Reynolds noted the AMA ESD is in a unique position because the districts it serves are in different phases of Whitmer’s reopening plan and the ESD’s Pied Piper School serves students from Alpena, Montmorency, and Alcona counties.

“We’ll be working closely with District Health Department No. 4 to determine how best to apply the guidance to ensure student safety,” he said.

Alcona Superintendent Dan O’Connor said he hopes to provide as much face-to-face instruction as possible.

“We are happy for the guidance and have numerous meetings after the Fourth (of July) to dig in with local health officials on protocols for health,” he said. “Then, obviously, you have the educational component, too, and we’ll be digging into that pretty heavily.”

Carl Seiter, superintendent for Hillman Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools, said he expects to meet with staff from each district at the end of July to work out the details of each plan.

“There’s no substitution for a highly qualified, skilled teacher in front of kids, and we’re going to try to do everything we can to get kids in front of those teachers, whether it’s all at once or whether it’s partial, but I think kids in front of the teachers is absolutely the best learning environment,” he said.

Several parents in Northeast Michigan on Tuesday expressed concerns about the upcoming school year.

“I think I’m more worried about the socio-emotional aspect than I am about the learning,” said Jamie Snyder, who is a parent and preschool teacher. “The socio-emotional aspect of school — where they spend time with friends, where they work together, where they do things as a team — I don’t know how it’s going to happen.”

Snyder said she is also concerned about how her children are supposed to wear a mask in school when they can’t make it through a trip to Meijer with masks on without complaining.

Tia Bacon, who has one child going into preschool and another headed into third grade, said it’s difficult to breathe with masks on.

Hillman residents Sonia Lucas and Brenda Sitton expressed concern about how students are being impacted by not being able to attend school or visit with their friends. Sitton said she doesn’t want to see children negatively impacted by the social changes of the pandemic while Lucas feels strongly her children need to be in school full-time.

“We have concerns, but life has to go on,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.