News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Vehicles lined up outside Alpena High School Wednesday evening, which was the day that students and staff returned to school since the ice storm.

ALPENA — Schools in Northeast Michigan closed last week, keeping student and staff safety in mind as power outages from the recent ice storm affected the area. Most schools are returning this week.

School cancellations have conflicted with state testing, as many schools in the area planned to hold their testing this week.

Alpena Public Schools opened Wednesday for students and staff, according to a Tuesday press release. Their new testing dates for students at Alpena High School taking the PSAT, ACT WorkKeys, and the SAT are today, Monday, and Tuesday. Original testing dates were set for Wednesday and today.

Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said that the testing window for this year, as determined by the College Board and the state, is between April 7 and April 25. The SAT test is strict in when and how it can be administered, Rabbideau said, making it difficult to adjust testing dates, even within the window.

Other districts are utilizing the flexible testing window to change their testing dates, like Onaway Area Community School District, according to Interim Superintendent Jake Huffman. The district plans to push testing to next week.

APS planned to open on Tuesday, but after they found out a radio tower was down, they remained closed to resolve the issue.

APS discovered that the antenna to the repeater on Manning Hill that amplifies the radio signal for buses was not operational, according to a Monday press release.

Bus drivers went out and ran their routes on Monday, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said at the regular board meeting Monday night. They reported that in the north end of the county, there were a number of blocked streets. Rabbideau said they had communicated with affected families and made arrangements for alternate location pickups.

Other area schools that returned Wednesday include Atlanta Community Schools, Rogers City Area Schools, and Posen Consolidated Schools.

Hillman Community Schools will be closed for the remainder of the week, according to a post on their Facebook page.

Onaway Area Community School District remained closed Wednesday. Huffman said they plan to return to school today.

Pied Piper opened its doors Monday to students and staff.

Alcona Community Schools reopened on April 2. Superintendent Dan O’Connor said that Alcona’s schools never lost power and were open as a warming center for those in need.

State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, is working on drafting a bill to grant schools forgiveness for days missed due to power outages and damage caused by the ice storm.

“I’m actively working with our local superintendents and fellow legislators on a bill I’m drafting and plan to introduce soon,” Cavitt said in a statement. “It will address the need for school closure forgiveness in Northeast Michigan during the recent state of emergency. I’m also preparing additional legislation to directly aid the ongoing cleanup effort. Now that we have the Governor’s attention, it’s more important than ever that we move quickly to ensure vital resources continue reaching our communities.”

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.