To say schools are in turmoil would be an understatement. And that’s before they even open. Just one example: Practice for fall sports had barely begun when COVID-19 outbreaks also showed up among a few teams. Then the Michigan High School Athletic Association postponed the football season into the spring.

In making the announcement Aug. 14, the association’s executive director, Mark Uyl, noted that the status of other fall sports also could change but “none of those carry the same close, consistent and face-to-face contact as football.”

Unfortunately, this may be just one disappointment among many for high schoolers — and perhaps for every student who’d like to be back in school with fellow classmates. And Grosse Pointe teams were not immune from outbreaks, including one among field hockey teammates, another among a cross-country team.

The rising number of cases among Michigan teenagers has become obvious enough to generate news stories, including an Aug. 11 report at bridgemi.com. It noted that in just the preceding week, the number of cases among those ages 10-19 had grown by 15 percent. Statewide, illness among those younger than 20 had averaged about 3 percent of all COVID-19 cases before June 1; since then, they’ve jumped to 16 percent of all cases.

The abrupt surge among young people can presumably be traced to the loosening of state restrictions just before Memorial Day, which led to graduation parties in June — and gatherings of teens and young adults where mask-wearing and distancing rules were not well observed. 

The urge for get-togethers is understandable. But it appears to have led to disease outbreaks that prompted many districts in Michigan, including the Grosse Pointe Public School System, to delay any in-person teaching. Now the hope is to bring students in gradually as the school year progresses.

And, under at least one model, high schoolers may be the last to return. 

That model, from the Harvard Global Health Institute and reported in the New York Times, ranked every county in the United States for its potential to reopen safely. There were four potential paths for schools: open with remote learning for all grades, open lower grades in-person but keep high school classes remote, open lower grades in-person and hold some in-person high school classes and, finally, open with in-person classes at all grade levels.

Wayne and Macomb counties both fell into the recommended category of full remote learning — that is, case numbers remain too great to risk bringing children of any age into classrooms. That affirms the Aug. 10 vote by the Board of Education to open school Sept. 8 with remote instruction only. (Most Michigan counties fell into the third category, where elementary and middle schools could open while high schools offer a mix of remote and in-person instruction.)

Locally, case counts also support the need for remote learning — and perhaps even for canceling all team sports. Grosse Pointe Farms sent out a safety notice earlier this week reminding residents about protective measures; the city’s Department of Public Safety noted that the Pointes had registered more than 100 new cases since Aug. 1.

Numbers from the COVID-19 dashboard maintained by Wayne County suggest that illness spread in the Pointes starting in late June and burgeoned as August got underway. It’s particularly unsettling as a summer phenomenon, well ahead of indoor activities that resume post-Labor Day and often kick off various illnesses.

There’s no denying this is hard — for teenagers,  and for older residents who are isolating from their own children and grandchildren.

Sadly, though, the turmoil for schools is particularly obvious — and likely to continue. Without a serious effort by everyone of every age to keep their masks on, very few children will be returning to their classrooms anytime soon.