The United School District #304 is moving forward with returning to a traditional school schedule starting in March.
Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt says that the school board on Thursday approved moving back to a traditional schedule starting Monday, March 1, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.
He says the only hesitation is not overworking the teachers or leaving students behind who are only remote learning. To help with that, he says the district has switched to synchronous learning so kids learning remotely are logged on when in-person class is being held.
“If first hour starts eight o’clock here and they’ve got geometry, that kid has got to log in at eight o’clock. They’ll be part of the class. It’s like they’re sitting in the class. They’re hearing it just like the kids in the class are, they can even talk to the teacher, but their desk is at home instead of in our classroom.”
Whitsitt says most of the students will be back in classrooms, saying about 14 to 25 percent of elementary students will be back.
He tells WGIL that about 75 to 80 percent of the teaching staff has been vaccinated for COVID-19, which will help keep school in session.
“So that’s a great thing. That will eliminate at least that many people from being subject to quarantine if that would come up. That was great news to get yesterday. I just feel like there [are] enough positives moving forward right now… we’re ready to make the next step.”
Should COVID numbers spike in the county, region, or even in the district, the district can transition back to hybrid learning. The district could go back to fully remote but Whitsitt says he can’t imagine how bad it would have to get for that to happen.