August 24, 2020
Dear Parents and Community Members,
The start of the 2020-2021 school year has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. We need your cooperation, support and flexibility to safely open our school district and continue providing a quality education for all students. As a public school district, we are required to meet the guidelines mandated to us by the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Public Health, The Governor’s Office and the Winnebago County Health Department. These directives are extensive and will require a total team effort from our staff, students, parents and the entire community. If we are unable to meet the required measures, the district may need to shift to remote learning. I want to provide you with some guidelines to help navigate the steps you will need to take to begin the in person instruction. These steps will help minimize the risk of exposure and transmission.
Parents will need to self-certify their children each day by 7:00 am. Self-certification starts on August 26, 2020. Parents can self-certify by utilizing their Teacher Ease/School Insight account. We will send reminders to parents to self-certify each of their students. Self-certification is a requirement for in-person instruction. Go to http://www.schoolinsight.com. Follow the instructions for each student.
Temperatures will be checked prior to boarding buses, morning line-up, and during the school day. Staff will be utilizing infrared thermometers which scan foreheads. Students whose temperature is greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit will not be allowed to board the school bus. Any student who has a temperature at any time during the day that is greater than 100.4 degrees or has any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 will be taken to an isolation room and parents will be contacted to come and get their child.
The lunch program will operate serving only cold bag lunches initially for the first 8 student attendance days. Serving bag lunches will allow us to determine the effectiveness of our seating arrangements and provide us with the flexibility to make adjustments quickly. Keep in mind that we are only allowed to have a maximum of fifty individuals in each room.
I want to strongly encourage parents to make plans in the event the school district is required to shift to Remote Learning. The decision to shift to remote learning will either be directed to us by the Governor’s Office, Illinois Department of Public Health, or with collaboration with the Winnebago County Health Department.
Students and staff will be wearing masks during the day. Wearing masks is a requirement for in-person instruction.
Attached are several of the recently updated documents from IDPH, the Governor’s office and the Winnebago County Health Department.
Working together we will be able to provide our students with the best instruction. Again, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of everyone’s involvement. The community which makes up Pecatonica CUSD 321 has always been supportive of education and now that support is critical. I am confident that we will overcome the challenges this pandemic has placed on all of us.
Sincerely,
Bill Faller
Early release on Wednesday, August 26 at 1:45 pm for the middle school and high school, 1:35 pm for the elementary school.
| Attachments |
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| Interim School Guidance for Local Health Departments.pdf |
| Public Health Interim Guidance for Pre-K-12 Schools.pdf |
| FAQs for Schools.pdf |
| WCHD Travel Guidance 08-18-2020.pdf |