“The health and well-being of our children, their parents, our teachers, administrators and all school district employees are our Number 1 priority,” says John Meixner, Regional Superintendent of Schools for ROE26.
“For these reasons, all schools within Fulton, Hancock, McDonough and Schuyler counties in ROE26 will be guided by five general principles as outlined by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois School Board of Education (ISBE) when we reopen schools this fall for the 2020-2021 school year under ‘Phase 4: Revitalization’ of the State’s pandemic reopening plan,” Meixner says.
He says that Illinois’ guidelines currently state that all public and nonpublic schools serving children enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade students must follow these instructions.
• Children, parents, teachers and all employees in a school district will be required to use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including face coverings;
• No more than 50 individuals can gather in one space at a time;
• Appropriate person-to-person social distancing is required, as much as possible;
• Schools will be required to conduct COVID-19 symptom screenings and administer temperature checks for students, teachers and staff, or require that individuals self-certify that they are free of symptoms before entering school buildings; and
• School staff will be required to increase and modify building-wide cleaning and disinfection methods.
According to Meixner, school districts in each of the four counties have also been collaborating with their respective county health departments during the pandemic with the development of plans to safely reopen its schools.
But Meixner advises that many aspects involving the pandemic and details surrounding the opening of schools is fluid and may change up until the time the school year begins this fall.
To learn more about these guidelines, visit the State of Illinois’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response website at http://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinoiis-phase-4 or ROE 26’s website at http://roe26.net. ROE 26 represents and serves schools in Fulton, Hancock, McDonough and Schuyler counties in west-central Illinois.
***Report Courtesy of the Regional Office of Education No. 26***
