Danville District 118 is canceling school for Wednesday, February 2nd and Thursday; with those days being declared as SNOW DAYS with no E-learning.
Friday, February 4th could end up being an E-Learning day, if the forecast temperatures for that day continue to be extremely cold. A decision on Friday will be made Thursday afternoon.
The following is a letter from District 118 Superintendent Dr. Alicis Geddis:
Good Afternoon, District 118 Family:
Due to the impending snow storm coming our way, we will be taking two (2) weather‐related Emergency Days on
Wednesday, February 2nd and Thursday, February 3rd. There will be no school for staff or students on those dates. The
DISTRICT WILL BE CLOSED.
If the projections for Friday’s temperatures continue to be as hazardous as forecasters predict, we will use one (1) E‐
Learning Day on Friday, February 4th. THAT DECISION WILL BE MADE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON, AFTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN MONITORED. In an effort to be prepared, please make sure to have all of the resources
necessary to pivot to an E‐Learning Day. I have attached a copy of the District’s Board approved E‐Learning plan as a
reference.
In the interim, here is some additional information to help clarify the difference between the days available to us in
these situations:
1. Adaptive Pause Days‐ These days are only available for COVID related issues with the blessing of a number of
State agencies.
Once we are faced with a large number of COVID related cases, I call the Vermilion County Health Department
(VCHD). the Regional Office of Education(ROE) who has to get the blessing of the State Board of
Education. Once that is received, the ROE will let me know we are approved to implement an Adaptive
Pause. On January 5th, 6th , and Jan 7th, we were charged with using 3 Adaptive Pause days. These days are
not added to the end of the calendar.
2. Emergency Days‐ These days are available only when a condition the district deems as an emergency exists and
determines to close all district school buildings.
Emergency Days must be made up prior to the end of the school year. If we use Emergency Days on Wednesday
and Thursday, we will have used 3 of the 5 Emergency days available to us for the entire school year.
3. E‐Learning Days‐ E‐learning days can only be used in lieu of a scheduled emergency day and are limited to the
minimum number of emergency days in the approved school calendar (five).
This option existed in statute prior to the pandemic, and we are not required to add these days to the end of
the calendar. If we use an E‐ Learning day on Friday, we will have used 2 of the 5 E‐Learning days available to
us for the entire school year.
This is only the first week of February and we continue to work around Covid related exposures and staffing issues. I
hope this helps illustrate the need to be careful when deciding which days are the best fit for our district.
Thank you. Stay warm and safe in the next few days!
Dr. Alicia Geddis, Superintendent
