KINGSFORD — The Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District expects to draft a plan by the end of July for the reopening of schools, Superintendent Wendy Warmuth said Wednesday.

Speaking to the ISD Board of Education during a teleconference meeting, Warmuth said she has been meeting over the past week with district superintendents and the ISD’s administrative team.

“Our schools want to be consistent with one another,” she said.

Despite a rise in COVID-19 cases in the Upper Peninsula, the region remains in Phase 5 under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s back-to-school guidelines. The governor, however, “may choose to move that back,” Warmuth cautioned.

Whitmer’s plan divides the state into regions and assigns each one a reopening phase from 1 to 6, with 6 being “post pandemic.”

In Phase 5, there are reduced safety protocols, although facial coverings are strongly recommended for staff, as well as for students while in hallways and common areas, including classrooms for sixth through 12th grades. Athletics are permitted, but the guidelines recommend a limit of 50 people at indoor spectator events and 250 people outdoors, both with social distancing.

Whitmer has suggested the Michigan High School Athletic Association move football and soccer to the spring, while allowing track and tennis in the fall.

Under Phase 4, masks would be required in the classroom for teachers and students in sixth through 12th grades. The governor’s plan also recommends that schools keep students in distinct groups for as much of the day as possible.

As meetings continue, a plan and checklist should come to the ISD board before mid-August, Warmuth said.

“Our superintendents want to get more information, as do our administrators,” she said.

“It’s a lot of change. We want to have as much good backup and data as we can.”

A plan will be prepared for each possible phase of the reopening, from 1 through 5, she noted.

Most local districts appear to be eyeing openings about Aug. 26.

In other business, the board conducted its reorganizational meeting, returning the same officers for the next school year: Robert Witter, president; James Nocerini, vice president; Nancy deKoster, secretary; and William Borga, treasurer.