Starting next week, public school students in Flint, Michigan, will attend classes online from home indefinitely, according to school district officials. In a Jan. 19 message to students and parents, Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones said the decision was made after discussion with local health officials and based on the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Genesee County and the state of Michigan. “We have decided to continue with distance learning until further notice to protect the health and wellbeing of our scholars, families, teachers, and staff,” Jones wrote. “This means scholars will continue distance learning next week, starting January 24, following their regular school schedule each day.” Jones cited Michigan’s pandemic data dashboard, which states that as of Jan. 13, the testing positivity rate for Genesee County is 38.4 percent, with a weekly average of 1,232 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. “To lower the transmission number, and …