Bessemer sends home two classes as COVID precaution

By CHARITY SMITH

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Bessemer — The Bessemer Area Schools sent home a kindergarten and fourth-grade class Monday as a precaution against COVID-19 after a student in each of the classes became ill.

Bessemer Superintendent Dan Niemi said the precaution went beyond what the district is required to do

“Even though it is not required, we had to tighten the reins,” said Niemi. “I don’t want to have a pandemic breakout in our school system.”

A letter to parents posted on the district’s Facebook page said testing for the kindergartener came back negative Monday and those students were able to return to school Tuesday.

As of Tuesday morning, test results weren’t back for the fourth-grade student, according to a district official, and results are anticipated within 48 hours.

Niemi said students were asked to continue to do schoolwork virtually, if possible, while at home.

According to Niemi, the school system was following its protocol with its COVID-19 plan. He said that he had contacted the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department and was told by Kate Beer, director of the WUPHD, that they were going above and beyond what was necessary for the situation.

Niemi said they just want to make sure that all of their students and staff are safe. Along with the students in the effected classes — also referred to as cohorts — he said the district went ahead and sent home the siblings of students in those cohorts as an extra precaution.

He said that had it been in the middle of the week, they might not have also sent the siblings home. However, because they had been with the students in the effected cohorts all weekend, the district felt it was a good idea to send those siblings home as well.

Niemi said that requirements regarding attendance, and the number of days required this year are more relaxed because of the pandemic, so “we were afforded that luxury,” he said of sending students home for potential exposure.

According to Niemi, students within the cohorts are insulated from all other groups of students during the day, and as such are not required to wear a mask in the company of their cohorts. Therefore when one student becomes ill in the group, all members of the cohort are at risk — which is why they were sent home.

He said this practice is done at the elementary level so that the younger students don’t have to wear a mask for a prolonged period of time. At the high school level, students are required to wear their mask throughout the day, as they are going from one class to another. He said they also have assigned seating for the older students so contract tracing is easier at the high school level. Niemi said that it would be hard to have the young ones stay in one seat all the time, as they are always mobile.

“It would be nice to put everyone in a bubble, but that just doesn’t work,” he said, referencing the movie “Bubble Boy.”