MORTON, Ill. — With classes set to start Tuesday at Morton District 709, there have been more questions than answers after three students and two staff members tested positive last week for COVID-19.
Superintendent Jeff Hill said in a video issued Monday no plans have changed.
“I think to really boil it down to its very essence, we’re really looking at the whole child and what students need to be healthy,” he said.
“We know they need to be in school, with their friends and teachers, we know there’s a lot of things we can do in school to keep kids safe that, when they have unstructured time in the community, they can’t or won’t do.
“We’ll be wearing face coverings, we’ll be social distancing as much as we possibly can, we’ve got procedures in place to keep them in smaller groups, and so we think all those things will make a difference for our kids, and they’ll have the benefit of in-person education, which we know from a number of different health organizations is critically important, not just from a social-emotional standpoint, but also from the whole idea of the learning loss that takes place when kids have moved online.”
Hill said science backs up the district’s plan to go completely in-person.
“We really know young children through the age of 10 or 12 are not getting sick from this disease, and they’re not transmitting a great deal,” he said.
“The community’s spread of COVID-19 has been relatively low, and even though it’s a little bit higher than it was earlier in the summer, it’s still at low levels.”
Hill said the district acknowledges staff and students will test positive for the virus throughout the year, and the Tazewell County Health Department will be monitoring the situation closely, moving forward.
The district teachers’ first day was Monday.
