It’s now been two weeks since Clarkston Community Schools reopened their doors to district buildings for staff and students.
Clarkston Superintendent Shawn Ryan said he has been proud to see everyone involved make the adjustment back to face-to-face learning.
“Not only does this mark seven months – nearly to the date – since all students were last on campus, it also marks just one of the many transitions we have faced this year,” Ryan said. “I am especially proud of our educators who have found new and extraordinary ways of connecting with students during this pandemic. As I visited our buildings this week and last, I saw an impressive level of grace and grit. I wholeheartedly believe every day is a good day to say ‘thank you’ to a teacher you appreciate.
“As we begin to get more comfortable in this new learning environment, there will continue to be lessons learned for all of us. I have learned much from our experiences out of the gate and I want to turn this learning into action. We will have active (COVID-19) cases from time to time in our buildings, and we want you to know what to expect.”

Families will be asked to self-screen for symptoms prior to the start of each school day. They are also asked to complete a health screening agreement if they have not already and keep students home if they have any COVID-19 symptoms: a fever of 100.4 degrees or greater, chills, sore throat, dry cough, headache, congestion or runny nose, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue, or digestive symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.
If a student is out with COVID symptoms, families should contact the building’s main office for a form to explain the child’s absence.
There are three ways the student can return to school: If the individual has symptoms, they must stay home for ten days from the first day they had symptoms AND be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever medicine AND other symptoms have improved. Evaluation by a health care provider is encouraged; Get a negative test result on a COVID-19 molecular PCR test (not a rapid test) from the primary care physician or Oakland County Health Division AND be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever medicine AND other symptoms have improved; If the individual has symptoms but no known potential exposure or close contact then the person can get a doctor’s note which indicates their symptoms are unrelated to COVID-19 and they can return to school or work as long as they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever medicine AND symptoms have improved.
If a child tests positive for COVID-19, all students in the household must isolate or quarantine. If the student has a COVID positive sibling or family member, the student would be considered a “close contact” of the positive person and should NOT come to school.
A student who is quarantining should report this to the school via the absence form so he or she can receive distance learning instruction during their time away.
If a student or teacher in your child’s class tests positive and the entire class is advised to quarantine, the entire class will move into distance learning. NOTE: This transition can occur with little notice.
If just a teacher is quarantined and is well enough to teach classes, he or she will teach remotely from home to the class in the building with on-site supervision by a guest teacher.
If a child is isolating or quarantining and is well enough to participate in distance learning, teachers will provide distance learning instruction until the student is able to return to school.
If there is a COVID positive or probable case in the district, families will be notified by email and/or a phone call ONLY if the child is potentially a close contact of the positive individual.
The Oakland County Health Department defines a close contact as someone who has been within six feet of a positive person for 15 minutes or more, with or without a mask.
As required by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the district is tracking all of the positive cases at clarkston.k12.mi.us/fall2020/covid-19.
“You will see that we do have a handful of active positive or probable cases in our district at this time,” Ryan said. “There is no evidence these cases contracted or transmitted the virus to others at school. The presence of positive cases in our district and our community should not be cause for alarm or apprehension. We have and will continue to monitor weekly the progression of the pandemic in our community and region with regular contact from the Oakland County Health Division epidemiologist and Oakland County data resources.
“If COVID cases in our area take on a progressive trend, we will make prudent decisions regarding our face-to-face learning, but by implementing and adhering to strong safety precautions, like mask wearing, handwashing, and social distancing while in school and in our personal lives, we can be confident that we are doing our part to create a safe community.”