Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of the Student Recovery Advisory Council to provide guidance and recommendations to ensure Michigan students have the tools and resources they need to get back on track.

Two CMF members have been appointed to the council Faye Nelson, director of Michigan programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, CMF trustee and co-chair of CMF’s COVID-19 Working Group.

“While the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of face-to-face learning for our society, it also has spotlighted vast differences in the challenges that students, families, and communities face,” White said. “Instead of thinking of going back to school, I hope we can focus on moving education forward in Michigan and ensuring that educators have the resources they need to meet all students where they are.”

The council is tasked with:  

• Developing and submitting recommendations to the governor, state superintendent and state budget director regarding student recovery.  

• Recommending actions to develop and improve systems for academic support for students who experienced learning loss due to COVID-19. 

• Recommending actions to develop and improve systems for mental and physical health for students impacted by COVID-19. 

• Recommending actions to develop and improve systems to support high school students transitioning into postsecondary education.  

• Recommending actions to develop and improve out-of-school time supports, including, but not limited to, summer school, before and after school programs and extended school years.  

• Assembling critical voices from the education and public health communities to assist in identifying key challenges students face due to the pandemic.  

• Providing other information or advice or take other actions as requested by the governor. 

• Reporting regularly to the governor on its activities and make recommendations on an ongoing basis. 

The 29 members of the council were appointed by the governor to represent parents, students, school leaders, educators, individuals with expertise in public health, pediatrics, mental health, and community members.

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