Nippersink School District 2

Without some type of influx of transportation staff or another schedule rearrangement allowing fewer drivers to transport more children, McHenry County education officials fear an unmanageable transportation conundrum will arise this winter as more drivers need days off for illness and other reasons.

Most districts have vaccinated at least 75% of their staff members, they reported Monday after Pritzker’s deadline for staff vaccinations took effect

Some McHenry County schools saw vaccination rates rise since the mandate to get shots or face weekly tests was put into effect last month by Gov. JB Pritzker, while others are still gathering data and have found teaching staff are more likely to already be inoculated than workers outside classroom settings.

“Of the four outbreaks, two outbreaks are related to the bus and the other two are in classrooms where mitigations were not strictly adhered to,” the McHenry County Health Department spokeswoman said.

“With home schooling, socialization looks a lot more normal right now than it does at schools,” said one Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 mom who decided to home-school this year

The first day of school is quickly approaching for McHenry County students, but with federal and state guidance less than a week old, many McHenry County school districts said they’re still finalizing some details.

Out of 21 incumbents across nine contested races, most in position for new terms with tallies ongoing

Superintendent points to fully vaccinated staff, relaxed state guidance but says community still has ‘a long way to go before COVID-19 is no longer a daily concern’

National Weather Service reports 4 inches of snow in McHenry, 3.5 inches in Richmond

Cases opened by county Regional Office of Education already more than doubled so far this year compared to 2018-19 academic year