Education

High schools are anticipating a shortage of men and women who blow the whistle as basketball returns to Michigan gyms after a timeout for the coronavirus.

Registration of referees is down 25% from a year ago, and the risk of COVID-19 is a “contributing factor,” said Geoff Kimmerly, a spokesman at the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

A cargo pilot who regularly needed health checkups to keep his license contacted a University of Michigan doctor in 2000. He said he soon learned there was nothing routine about a visit with Robert Anderson.

He said Anderson told him to undress, put on a medical gown and get on a table, instead of simply checking the man’s vision, hearing and heart. He said the doctor touched his genitals and gave him a prostate exam.

Michigan’s health department lifted a monthslong ban on contact sports that was ordered to help curb rising coronavirus cases, starting Monday, as long as masks are worn.

Thursday’s announcement from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer came a week after she had expressed optimism about a restart — amid growing pressure from parents, athletes, school administrators and Republican lawmakers. If face coverings cannot be worn, athletes must be regularly tested for COVID-19 under the revised order.

Michigan on Tuesday began accepting applications for tuition-free assistance for adults 25 and older to earn an associate’s degree or postsecondary certificate at their local community college or a private training school.

The Michigan Reconnect program is being supported with an initial $30 million in state funding. Applicants must be at least 25, have lived in the state a year or more, have a high school diploma or equivalent and not have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

An athletic advocacy group, hockey league and parents of athletes sued Michigan’s health director on Tuesday, seeking a reversal of 2 1/2-month state ban on contact sports that was issued to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Michigan Department of Education again has asked the U.S. Department of Education to waive standardized testing for the 2020-2021 school year so Michigan teachers can focus on making sure students are caught up in their education. State Superintendent Michael Rice says in the request that Michigan can't safely and uniformly administer a fair standardized test. Standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year was waived for Michigan, but U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told states to expect testing to come back for the 2020-2021 school year.

Nearly two dozen school buses drove past the northern Michigan home of a beloved driver who died from COVID-19.

It was a surprise tribute for Dale Wiersum’s wife. He was a driver for seven years in Cheboygan, a rural district near the tip of the Lower Peninsula where buses play a critical role in getting kids to school.

“He was a friend first,” co-worker Demi Posh said. “Always giving, thoughtful, generous, sincere. There’s not enough words to describe what kind of man Dale was. Everybody went before him. Always.”

A regional education agency named for former U.S. Sen. Lewis Cass is dropping the name. Trustees last week voted unanimously to change the name of the Cass Intermediate School District in southwestern Michigan. A new name will be selected in January. Cass, who died in 1866, was a U.S. senator as well as governor of Michigan before it became a state. He also owned slaves and removed Native Americans from tribal lands while in President Andrew Jackson's administration.

Veterinary students at Michigan State University are pleading for a tuition rebate after months of online instruction. The students said they expected a mix of in-person and online courses, but in-person classes were quickly dropped when the fall term began. Lauren Phillip and Breanna Demaline, on behalf of the classes of 2023 and 2024, spoke to MSU trustees, requesting a 30% refund. President Samuel Stanley Jr. says a partial refund isn't practical, noting the university still has fixed costs.

Nonpublic schools sued Monday after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration extended a coronavirus order that prevents in-person instruction at Michigan high schools, saying it violates the First Amendment right to practice religion.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that her administration may extend portions of a three-week partial shutdown of schools and businesses next week because of the “sheer volume” of coronavirus cases in Michigan.

The University of Michigan said it hired a consultant to guide changes after the school’s chief academic officer was ousted because of sexual misconduct.

Guidepost Solutions will assist the university in following recommendations by a law firm that said it had uncovered sexual misconduct by Martin Philbert during his long career. He was accused of harassing graduate students and staff and regularly having trysts in campus offices.