Several central Illinois school districts are temporarily moving all instruction online as COVID-19 cases surge across the region--particularly among teachers and other staff.
Farmington District 265 Superintendent Zac Chatterton said with more than 17% of students and 25% of staff absent, quality in-person instruction is no longer possible.
"We've seen a little bit of an uptick this week, steadily since actually Sunday night and Monday morning, and really we just kinda hit the threshold, more so with staffing than it was students. It's not all directly COVID-related, but the vast majority of it is," Chatterton said.
He said full remote learning begins Friday, and will continue at least through Nov. 23.
"I would really like to come on campus, at least for those two days before the the holiday, just to reconnect with the kids to make sure that they're they're doing all right and collect any work and all that before we go out for Thanksgiving break. But yeah, we may have to do that (extend remote learning), but we would prefer not to," he said.
The district covers a wide swath of Fulton and Peoria counties.
Brimfield District 309 started remote learning on Wednesday due to staffing shortages at both the grade school and high school.
"We had probably 10 to 12 staff members who were out either as isolated or being quarantined as close contacts," said Brimfield Superintendent Tony Shinall. "We did our best to cover it internally; It wasn't sustainable to do well, so we made the decision to go remote."
Brimfield students will learn remotely through the end of the month.
And in the Deer-Creek Mackinaw School District in Tazewell County, 26% of high school students are currently quarantining, along with five staff members. Superintendent Michele Jacobs said that's mainly due to gatherings happening outside of school.
Currently, the high school has five COVID-19 positive students, and one positive staff member. Students will learn remotely through the end of November. All extracurricular activities also are suspended.
Students attending Dee-Mack's elementary, intermediate, or junior high schools will continue to attend class in-person. Quarantine and case counts are lower at those schools, Jacobs said.
The entire state is currently under restrictions on indoor dining, bar service, and gathering sizes, but schools are exempt from those rules.
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