It was announced on Monday that District 205 was receiving over six million dollars from the government for COVID expenses as part of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Act from the federal government.
But what of other area districts? Abingdon-Avon School District 276 is set to receive around $1.2 million dollars as part of the act, says Superintendent Dr. Mike Curry.
He said that those funds have strings attached to them. “Yes, it does come with strings attached to it. It has to all be COVID-related,” he told WGIL on Thursday. “They’re really pushing for summer school and salaries. We are definitely working on a plan for an extensive summer school opportunity. Things like extended days in the fall for students to maybe catch back up. HVAC systems… air conditioning, heating, airflow upgrades as well.”
Dr. Curry says that the district would offer summer school to any students that wanted to attend to prep them for the next grade level.
On Wednesday, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health issued no guidelines for schools to teach in person. Of those new guidelines, one change allowed for masked social distancing of between three and six for students in classrooms. During lunch periods, when masks won’t be worn, districts must maintain six feet of social distance.
A-Town has kids back in classrooms learning five days a week learning until the lunch break when they are sent home so teachers can teach kids who are sticking to remote learning. Will that be changing?
Superintendent Dr. Mike Curry says the district is planning to stay with this plan through the rest of the school year even after the state guidelines for COVID were changed.
“We don’t have the space to meet the guidelines that was re-emphasized just this week by ISBE and IDPH that kids should not eat within six feet of each other. We just don’t have that space. So we are staying on an 8:00-12:30 in-person schedule. So it’s four-and-a-half hours of almost continuous instruction. Which is a really good number. We feel like we’re able to do quite a bit in those four-and-a-half hours. Then we have remote students learning in the afternoon.”
Curry hopes that by August, everything will be back to normal. However, he said if things aren’t, they will have all the space limitations addressed.
