Update (July 21, 2020): A Michigan judge has decided that a Black high school student who was sent to juvenile detention for not completing her online schoolwork won't be released early, NBC News reported.

The decision was made on Monday by Judge Mary Ellen Brennan who said 15-year-old Grace, a pseudonym for the teen, is benefiting from the residential treatment program and should not return to her mother yet, The Detroit News reported.

The high schooler was sent to juvenile detention in May after struggling to get adjusted to her online coursework while under provisions of the court. After not completing some of her assignments, a violation of her probation, she was entered into the program and detained.

The case sparked outrage from people who said the 15-year-old's case was an example of systemic racism and the criminalization of Black children. 

Judge Brennan said it was in Grace's best interest to remain in the program, considering her progress.

"Give yourself a chance to follow through and finish something," Brennan said. "The right thing is for you and your mom to be separated for right now."

"I miss my mom. I can control myself. I can be obedient," Grace said in response.

The family's attorney, Jonathan Biernat, agreed that Grace has been making progress but said the fight for her release will continue. 

"When a family asks the system for help, they should be given help," not legal troubles, Biernat said after the hearing. 

Another hearing has been scheduled for September.

Original (July 15, 2020): A Black high school sophomore sent to juvenile detention for not signing in to do her online schoolwork during the coronavirus pandemic amplifies the lack of resources and systemic racism within the education system.

Grace, a 15-year-old at a Michigan high school, was sent to Children's Village juvenile detention center after she violated probation by not completing her schoolwork, ProPublica reports. 

In Michigan, the governor issued an executive order prohibiting the confinement of juveniles who violated probation unless otherwise stated by a court order.

Grace, however, was previously under strict requirements set forth by Judge Mary Ellen Brennan to wear a GPS tether, regularly check in with a court caseworker and complete her schoolwork. She was put on probation after getting into a physical altercation with her mom and getting caught stealing a phone from a student at school. 

Due to confidentiality in juvenile cases, it is unclear how many cases are similar to Grace's, but her mom, Charisse, believes the situation stemmed from racial bias.

In the U.S., 15,000 high school students in Los Angeles, one-third of students in Minneapolis Public Schools and roughly 25% of Chicago Public School students have either failed to log in or failed to complete their coursework during the transition to online schooling. Specifically, only 60% to 70% of students at predominantly Black and Hispanic high schools are actively and consistently engaging with their online coursework, consulting group McKinsey & Company reported.

The decision for schools to transition to an online schooling system was a direct result of the spread of the coronavirus in March. Many schools initially decided to keep children out of the halls and classrooms for a few weeks with the anticipation of things returning to normal before spring break.

Yet, time proved that decision would become permanent and students and teachers would be forced to spend the remainder of the school year completing assigned tasks online.

As schools made the switch, however, Black and low-income students were disproportionately affected due to a lack of resources like an at-home computer and reliable internet. According to Brookings, 6.8% of Black households lag behind white families in access to broadband connectivity. Additionally, Black households are more likely than white households to rely solely on mobile connections. 

A study by the Pew Research Center found that 35% of households with school-aged children and an annual income below $30,000 do not have high-speed internet in the home and that one in four children in low-income households does not have access to a computer. In comparison, of the homes bringing in at least $75,000 a year, only 6% do not have high-speed internet, and just 4% are without a computer.

The New York Times reports that by September, most students will have fallen behind where they would've been academically during a normal school year and that racial and economic disparities will increase.

McKinsey & Company reported Black students could fall behind by 10.3 months academically, compared to seven months for the average student.

The research emphasized the long-term educational effects specifically for minority students and reported that school closures will increase the dropout rate for Black students by 5.5%.

The task of keeping students engaged in their online coursework is especially challenging for households with students who have learning disabilities. 

Charisse said Grace has been directly impacted by the switch to online schooling in that regard. Grace, who has ADHD and a mood disorder, has struggled to focus on her work without in-person instruction. Her mom said she is supposed to receive periodic check-ins from her teachers and extra time to complete assignments and tests but has not received any of her required support.

One morning, Grace said she had forgotten to plug in her computer and missed her alarm, causing her to miss her educational instruction for the day. 

Judge Brennan said Grace was "guilty on failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school" and that she was a "threat to [the] community," citing her previous charges. 

“She hasn’t fulfilled the expectation with regard to school performance,” Brennan said as she sentenced Grace. “I told her she was on thin ice and I told her that I was going to hold her to the letter, to the order, of the probation.”

Ricky Watson Jr., executive director of the National Juvenile Justice Network, said the decision to send the 15-year-old to a juvenile center is questionable. 

“Unless there is an urgent need, I don’t understand why you would be sending a kid to any facility right now and taking them away from their families with all that we are dealing with right now," Watson said.

Many states are now figuring out how to reopen schools beginning in August. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was recently criticized by Rep. Ayanna Pressley for not having a plan for schools to continue educating students without risking their health and the health of school faculty and staff.

Khulia Pringle, education outreach coordinator at AmeriCorps in Minnesota, said "Poor people are going to be the guinea pigs in this situation."

Students sent back to school in the fall could potentially be deadly for the Black community which has been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, as Blavity previously reported. Additionally, Black Americans constitute a significant portion of essential workers, thus putting them and their communities at greater-risk for infection.

The CDC stated that children meeting in groups, including school, could put everyone at risk. The National Education Association released a statement in April detailing the effects of sending children back to school too soon. 

“The coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the inequities facing our most vulnerable students, and they will still be there when school buildings re-open unless we address them now,” the statement read. “We must share in finding solutions that finally work for students of color, students with disabilities, English language learners, undocumented families, homeless families, rural schools, and under-resourced schools.”

Click here to sign a petition demanding Michigan reform the probation system that led to Grace's senseless detention.