O’Fallon High School moves to remote learning as COVID-19 cases in southwest IL surge

O’Fallon Township High School District 203 will revert to all-remote learning Monday and continue on that plan at least through the end of the first semester, Dec. 18.

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to move from hybrid learning, which mixes in-person lessons with digitally-based classes, to remote learning. It cited Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest round of statewide mitigations, staffing difficulties, decreasing student attendance for in-person learning, regional metrics and the input of the teachers union.

OTHS had one active case at the beginning of November, but cases have increased each week, Superintendent Darcy Benway wrote in a letter posted to the district’s website. As of Tuesday, there were 18 active cases of coronavirus, but no transmissions have been confirmed to have happened at school, she said.

COVID-19 cases statewide have been rising steeply since October. On Wednesday, metro-east Region 4’s hospital bed capacity fell to 16%. Region 4 includes St. Clair, Madison Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph counties.

The Restore Illinois plan sets the hospital bed capacity threshold for 20%, and if a region drops below that, the state may order further mitigations to avoid the possibility of the region running out of hospital and ICU beds.

In St. Clair County, most districts started the year remotely, including O’Fallon 203. Since then, many districts switched to hybrid learning.

As case numbers rise, though, districts are starting to take extra precautions. Belleville Township High School 201 announced Monday that it is switching back to remote learning after Friday.

East St. Louis 189, which has been remote all semester, announced Friday that staff were being sent home to work remotely.