More than 400 Dupo students move to remote learning after two test positive for COVID
More than 400 students in Dupo Community Unit School District 196 were sent home for remote learning starting Tuesday, after one junior high and one high school student tested positive for COVID-19.
All students in seventh through 12th grades, as well as one section each of third and fourth grade, will be learning remotely until they return to in-person instruction Nov. 6, concluding the 10-day isolation period recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
In a letter addressed to parents and staff, District 196 Superintendent Kelly Carpenter said the students were sent home “as a precautionary measure and based on the number of individuals that are required to quarantine due to having close contact.”
The letter did not disclose how many people will be required to quarantine; the St. Clair County Health Department is responsible for contact tracing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define close contact as being within 15 feet of someone for 15 or more cumulative minutes over a 24-hour period. Those required to quarantine will be notified by the school district or St. Clair County Public Health Department.
“We realize these are difficult times for each and every family,” Carpenter said in her letter. “We appreciate your continued support as we develop and modify our plans.”
Dupo 196 was one of four districts in St. Clair County to start the year with some in-person learning. Under the recommendation of county health departments, the other 23 districts elected to start the school year with remote learning only.
Freeburg Community High School District 77 was another one of the four St. Clair County districts to start with a hybrid learning plan, which includes both in-person and remote learning components. The district temporarily changed course shortly after announcing their return to learn plans when a teacher tested positive for COVID-19, before students eventually returned to the classroom.
Since August, some of the districts that started remotely have started to bring students back into the classroom, including Belleville Township High School 201 and O’Fallon Township High School 203.
Tightened restrictions will go into effect Wednesday in Region 4, which includes St. Clair County, following rising positivity rates of coronavirus testing.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 5:46 PM.