COVID-19 Taps D300 Resources; Schools Will Go Remote

MCHENRY AND KANE COUNTIES, IL — District 300 will return to remote learning due to a spike in coronavirus cases in area communities as well as its school. Remote learning will resume on Nov. 2, Superintendent Fred Heid said in a statement Wednesday.

For District 300, the sixth largest school district in the state, a rise in cases in the region, as well as within its school buildings, led to the decision, Superintendent Fred Heid said in a statement Wednesday.

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Since Oct. 16, there have been "59 COVID-related events" involving elementary school teachers, which led to 35, or 59 percent of in-person teachers, who can no longer teach from the building each day, Heid said. In addition, three principals and one assistant principal are also in quarantine.

"Our school teams have done an amazing job backfilling these positions, but we are quickly exhausting our resources and have reached a point where confirmed COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related events are beginning to adversely impact our ability to deliver in-person instruction," Heid said Wednesday.

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D300 offered in-person school under a hybrid model for kindergarten through third grade students for just six days before making its decision, Heid said. During that time, four classrooms were shut down and students switched to remote learning because of COVID-19 exposure events, he said.

One of the classrooms had five or more cases, which is classified by the Illinois Department of Public Health as an outbreak that could lead to a school closure, Heid said. In addition, 202 students have been quarantined after being identified as "close contacts" with a student or staff member who tested positive for COVID-19.

Currently, District 300 is monitoring nine school buildings for possible outbreaks, Heid said. If COVID-19 cases drop, D300 hopes to be back in school after Thanksgiving.

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