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Education is a big issue in northern Michigan, whether we're reporting on school funding issues to breakthroughs in the classroom.

Kingsley Superintendent: How we responded when a student tested positive for COVID-19

Students across the state are going back to school this week, and most Up North will return to in-person learning. Kingsley Schools started in late August and had a student test positive for COVID-19 during the first week back.

"Anyone who realistically thought that they were gonna get through a school year without this affecting their district I think has their head in the sand," District Superintendent Keith Smith said. "I was just surprised at the speed at which it happened, we'd only been in school three days."

Smith says they were able to isolate affected students and clean their building relatively quickly.

He says he hasn't talked to officials from other districts and thinks communication between districts about the pandemic could improve. 

"I can't blame anybody for not having extra time to ... reach out, that's definitely something we could probably do better at," he said.

Confirmed coronavirus cases have crept up in Grand Traverse County in the past few months. According to the county health department as of Sept. 4 the county had 339 active cases.

Max came to IPR in 2017 as an environmental intern. In 2018, he returned to the station as a reporter and quickly took on leadership roles as Interim News Director and eventually Assignment Editor. Before joining IPR, Max worked as a news director and reporter at Michigan State University's student radio station WDBM. In 2018, he reported on a Title IX dispute with MSU in his story "Prompt, Thorough and Impartial." His work has also been heard on Michigan Radio, WDBM and WKAR in East Lansing and NPR.