DEARBORN — Dearborn Public Schools will have one day of remote learning March 1 for the 15th District state House of Representatives special primary election.
On that Tuesday, students will log into their classes from home via Schoology and Zoom and have a full day of live learning with their teachers. Attendance will be taken. Buildings will still be open, and sports, clubs, and other activities can still continue.
In January, state officials called for a special election in Dearborn to fill the House seat vacated by Abdullah Hammoud when he became mayor of Dearborn. March 1 is the primary for that special election, and May 3 will be the runoff.
Most of the district’s schools are used as polling places, and those buildings will be open to the public on both election days. May 3 is already scheduled as a day off of school for Eid.
DPS this year again paid for every student to have a Schoology account in case COVID-19 conditions resulted in students returning to remote learning. In recent months, several individual classrooms have temporarily switched to remote learning due to COVID concerns, but the district as a whole has remained open.
A few months ago, DPS surveyed parents and students to ensure all students had a district Chromebook or other technology at home to access remote learning, if needed.
The district is traditionally closed on the November general election day every year, and parents have increasingly expressed concerns when students were in class during other elections.
“While online learning is not ideal for most students and families long-term, we are glad we have the infrastructure in place to move to remote learning on election day,” Supt. Glenn Maleyko said. “This will reassure families concerned about having buildings open to the public and allow students to focus on learning.”