District 300 superintendent statement on school closing

To District 300 parents and guardians:

As you know, on Friday afternoon Gov. Pritzker announced that all Illinois public schools will be closing beginning on Tuesday, March 17.

This has been a rapidly changing situation throughout the world and nation and the state of Illinois has been no exception as decisions have been changing on a daily basis. Please rest assured that we are monitoring the situation constantly and we are developing plans to deal with the circumstances as they arise.

The good news for us in southern Illinois is that there are currently no confirmed cases in our region. To keep up to date with accurate information, I encourage you to follow information from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Center for Disease Control.

As a result of Gov. Pritzker's statewide decision, here is what next week will look like:

Monday, March 16

A regular attendance day for students with normal procedures for student absences.

Students should be prepared to bring home materials/books for possible use during school closure.

There will be no Arrow Academy or Arrow High programming after school on Monday.

Tuesday, March 17

No attendance for students. This will be a teacher institute day to allow additional time for our teachers to prepare learning materials during the early part of the school closure.

We will also begin a breakfast/lunch program for all District 300 students which will continue during our closure as the situation allows. More details will come to you soon.

All extracurricular practices, events, and competitions will be suspended from this point forward during the school closure.

March 18-March 20

We will begin "E-Learning Days." This will involve educational materials/assignments being provided to District 300 students.

We will utilize online resources but will also provide paper copies of instructional materials whenever needed so that all students/families have access. More details about "E-Learning Days" will be released soon.

The governor's school closure continues the week of March 23-March 27 (Monday-Friday) and also includes closure on Monday, March 30. This is a 14-day time span which is the current recommendation from the CDC.

At this time, we are scheduled to resume school on Tuesday, March 31.

Again, please know this a rapidly changing situation and we will be monitoring it and may need to adjust our plans. I know our teachers, staff, and administrators will do everything they can to be supportive during this time.

Thank you.

Mr. Matthew Hickam

Superintendent

Du Quoin CUSD 300