MI news coalition urges Gov. Whitmer to identify school COVID-19 outbreaks
More than 30 Michigan news and government transparency organizations delivered a letter (below) to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday urging rapid release of school related COVID outbreak details as students and educators start the new school year.
In-person/in-school instruction is an option in many schools, yet through August, state and local health departments failed to publicly identify schools or colleges where more than a dozen COVID-19 outbreaks were traced.
Last week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told Bridge Michigan it would eventually release the names of schools where outbreaks are identified once it transforms its computer system to capture that information – but that could potentially happen weeks from now.
- COVID-19 at your Michigan school? Odds are, nobody is required to tell you.
- 8 new COVID outbreaks in Michigan schools, colleges. State won’t name them
- Health emergency declared as COVID spreads at Central Michigan University
- Fear of COVID outbreaks forces Eastern Michigan University online — for now
Likewise, local health departments across the state have not yet released school COVID details. Michigan media organizations have filed numerous Freedom of Information requests to gain access to school COVID outbreak records, but FOIA requests often take weeks or months, and do not supply the real-time notice that parents need to decide whether to return their children to classroom settings.
So far, the governor’s office has offered little reaction beyond spokespersons’ claims last week that they were “reviewing” the situation.
“Students, parents and educators deserve way more urgency and transparency than this,” said Center for Michigan and Bridge Michigan President & CEO John Bebow. “Parents and educators face very difficult choices in assuring safety for students and families in this school year. The news media, educators, and families shouldn’t have to beg state government to clearly, fully, and consistently alert local communities to COVID outbreaks in schools. We ask the governor to immediately address and fix this situation.”
Dear Governor Whitmer,
We are writing to respectfully but urgently request you immediately marshal the resources of state government to compile and publicly release, on a consistent ongoing basis, vital public information regarding school related COVID outbreaks.
Right now, across this great state, parents, educators and students are wrestling with whether to proceed with virtual or in-school learning in the face of the pandemic. For many families, this is among the most difficult decisions in this extraordinarily difficult year.
Yet, to date, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and local health departments have failed to provide the public with essential details on the exact location and severity of school related COVID outbreaks. This month, on the verge of the new school year, MDHHS announced:
- The existence of 14 school-related COVID outbreaks statewide well over a week ago. Since then we’ve learned of several more via social media and local word of mouth.
- Shortcomings in the state’s COVID tracking systems, including the system’s current inability to track exactly where these school-related outbreaks occur.
- A pledge to eventually release school-related COVID outbreak details once the tracking system is fixed and county health departments begin submitting to the state more details, including exact locations of COVID-impacted schools. MDHHS has indicated these fixes could take weeks.
In the meantime, county health departments…the first level of COVID reporting and tracking, continue to refuse media requests to release essential school-related outbreak details such as names and locations of impacted schools and number of known COVID cases. County health departments have cited confusion, lack of direction from state government, and a desire to protect schools from COVID-related stigma.
Respectfully, school-related COVID outbreak information belongs to the taxpayers who pay for it, especially parents with school-aged children. It is the duty of state and local health departments to protect public health. This includes the duty to inform the public of health risks transparently, rapidly, and fully — including the existence of COVID outbreaks in schools at the beginning of this very challenging school year.
Media organizations are filing Freedom of Information Act requests, but this is no time for drawn-out transparency battles.
We call on you to immediately provide Michigan families, students, educators and taxpayers with the transparency they deserve. State government has more than 14,000 employees devoted to health and human services. Beyond the weeks-long fix of state computer tracking systems, we call on you to marshal state government resources to immediately, fully, consistently, and continually release school-related COVID outbreak details — including the names of impacted schools, their locations, and number of cases — to the full Michigan public.
In closing, we respectfully remind you that, at the beginning of the pandemic, you declared professional news-gathering organizations an essential public service. We can think of few media public services more essential and urgent in this moment than informing local communities on COVID outbreaks in schools.
Sincerely,
The Michigan School-Related COVID Outbreak Transparency Coalition
Bill Speer, Publisher
Alpena News
Bradley Massman, Editor
Big Rapids Pioneer
Stephen Henderson, Project Executive
BridgeDetroit
John Bebow, President and CEO
Bridge Michigan and the Center for Michigan
Chris Huckle, Publisher
Cadillac News
Kelley Root, Executive Editor
Crain’s Detroit Business
Teresa Brandell, Publisher
Crawford County Avalanche
Peter Bhatia, Editor and Vice President
Detroit Free Press
Gary Miles, Editor and Publisher
The Detroit News
Julie Stafford, Publisher
(Greenville) Daily News
John Minnis, Publisher
Grosse Pointe News
Eric Hamp, Publisher
Houghton Lake Resorter and Roscommon County Herald-News
Eric Young, Editor
Huron Daily Tribune
Tanya Whitaker, Editor
The (Dundee) Independent
Stephanie Angel, Editor
Lansing State Journal, Livingston County Press and Argus, Battle Creek Enquirer, Port Huron Times-Herald
John Elchert, Publisher
The Leelanau Enterprise
Mike Reitz, Executive Vice President
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Jeff Payne, Managing Editor
The Macomb Daily
Lisa McGraw, Vice President
Michigan Coalition for Open Government
James Tarrant, Executive Director
Michigan Press Association
Kate Hessling, Editor
Midland Daily News
John Hiner, Vice President of Content
MLive
Craig Barnt, Publisher and Editor
The Pinconning Journal
Larry Sobczak, Publisher and Editor
Record-Washington Township
See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:
- “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
- “Not many other media sources report on the topics Bridge does.” - Susan B.
- “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.
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