St. Charles Schools To Offer Remote, In-Person Classes This Fall

ST. CHARLES, IL — St. Charles District 303 officials are preparing to give students several options for completing their coursework, as coronavirus cases start to rise again in Illinois about a month before the start of the next school year.

Students can opt for full-time remote learning if they are uncomfortable returning to school amid the pandemic, though officials hope to have some students in classrooms, according to a letter to parents from Superintendent Jason Pearson and school board president Nicholas Manheim.

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The district is also set to open its doors to students next month, but they would be required to wear masks and practice social distancing, the letter says. Students and staff members would also be required to certify each day before school that they are free of coronavirus-related symptoms.

School officials have also proposed a hybrid option, with students spending some days in the classroom and others at home to limit the number of students gathering during the pandemic, Pearson and Manheim said. Under the hybrid model, groups would rotate between home and school on a daily or weekly basis.

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Circumstances could require the district to shut down its schools and return to full-time remote learning, they added.

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Pearson and Manheim warned parents it will not be possible to bring back all students without restrictions until Illinois reaches phase 5 of its reopening plan. That cannot happen until a vaccine or highly effective treatment is widely available.

Teachers and staff members are preparing for a majority of students to return in the fall, with only 12 percent of students expected not to attend full-time, in-person classes, according to a districtwide survey of parents.

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District 303 parents are overwhelmingly supportive of sending their children back to school in the fall, the survey shows. More than 5,300 parents and caretakers responded to the survey, representing nearly 9,000 students, or about three-quarters of the district.

Seventy-four percent of District 303 students are either likely to attend or will attend school in the fall if full-time in-person learning is being offered on a normal schedule, according to the survey. Just 9 percent of students would not attend, according to the survey.

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The survey shows many parents will be changing their morning routines, however.

Nearly 500 more students will be driven children to school by their parents in the fall than in the 2019-20 school year, and almost 1,000 more students will bring their lunches from home than last year, according to the survey.

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Aug. 13 is tentatively set to be the first day of the 2020-21 school year in St. Charles Community Unit School District 303.