The superintendent of Westville schools says students and families in his district will be faced with difficult choices as the new school year begins.
Seth Miller says many students in his district weren’t able to continue learning at the same pace they had before the pandemic, and he says the effect will notbe over this year.
“There are substantial learning gaps for these children that will have very lasting implications,” he said.
With all Illinois schools being ordered to have school online for the final quarter of the last school year, Miller says plenty of families with two parents who work outside of the home were left in a difficult position. He says that will likely continue to be a problem if cases spike and schools are ordered closed again.
“For many of our families, it’s going to be a choice between a mortgage or a rent payment, or childcare, or picking up another job and having the emotional stamina to hang in there and do some sort of remote learning with the kids,” Miller explained.
The Westville school district is planning in-person learning five days a week, but its neighbor three miles to the south, Georgetown-Ridge Farm, will only be offering remote learning at the start of the new school year.
