District 118 will operate with a blended schedule for the 2020-21 school year, with students learning both in the classroom and online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent Alicia Geddis outlined the district’s plan for the upcoming school year.
Student attendance will vary depending on grade level, with students learning online when not in the classroom:
- Danville High School, North Ridge Middle School and Southview Upper Elementary School will operate on an A and B schedule, where one group will attend on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- The district’s elementary schools and its preschool program will operate on half-day schedules, where one group of students will attend in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
- Kenneth D. Bailey Academy will operate on the A and B schedule, with high school students in one group and middle school students in the other.
Geddis said there will be an online-only learning option in case parents do not want their children in the classroom or cannot be present due to medical issues.
During the school day, everyone will be required to wear face masks. Geddis said students will be able to eat inside their classrooms, but face shields and desk dividers will not be permitted.
She says classroom size will also be limited.
“We’re not looking to bring them all back together. We’re trying to keep classes — the goal right now is about 12. I’d like to see 10 if we can get there, but we’re not trying to have more than 12 kids in a classroom.”
Skip Truex, the district’s director of buildings and grounds, said the district has purchased 180,000 adult-sized face masks, 56,300 children’s masks and 3,400 bottles of hand sanitizer.
Geddis said she is still working out a plan for temperature checks, which will be required of everyone entering school buildings. It takes, on average, a minute to take each person’s temperature. One goal is to be able to do temperature checks inside vehicles. Geddis said one administrator will be assigned to oversee temperature checks.
Assistant Superintendent Beth Yacobi said different entrances could be limited to one group, such as bus students only. Special education director Molly Bailey said the district has purchased 250 thermometers.
