St. Charles School Dist. 303 working on fall back-to-school plan

As the current school year winds down for St. Charles District 303 students, officials are planning for what the new school year will look like following summer break.

“We have a team that has been working on that since late winter that’s comprised of parents, students and staff members that helped us last summer tp create a reopen plan for this year,” Superintendent Jason Pearson told School Board members during Monday’s School Board meeting. “They’ve reconvened with chief academic officer Denise Herrmann. They are having conversations about what we’ve learned and what we want to try and maintain and what we need to change. Hopefully that information will help inform our planning process as we work to post a new plan.”

The district will be applying for grant funding from the federal government related to its response to the pandemic. As part of the application, districts must submit their plans for reopening schools in the fall.

“We plan to put that together to meet the grant requirements,” Pearson said. “It will be posted on our website and there will be the opportunity for public input and then of course we will bring it to the board for you to provide feedback as well.”

However, the district has not been told what criteria has to be included in the plan.

“They haven’t told us yet what has to be in the plan,” Pearson said. “They just told us we have to do one. So we look forward to that information going forward.”

Dist. 303 middle school and high school students on April 5 returned to in-person learning five days a week following spring break. The district’s elementary school students were already doing in-person learning five days a week.

The change took place as a result of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education recently releasing revised public health guidance for schools.

Social distance for in-person learning is now defined as 3 to 6 feet for students and fully vaccinated staff.