Mascoutah is the latest southwest IL school district to announce remote learning plan
Mascoutah Community Unit School District 19 is the latest St. Clair County school district to announce it will be starting the school year remotely, after initial plans called for all in-person learning.
The first full day of remote instruction was pushed back to Aug. 24 to allow time for staff to be trained.
The district published a revised return to learn plan Monday, citing the increased coronavirus spread in St. Clair County. The metro-east region has had two record-breaking days for new cases in the last week, and a positivity rate higher than Chicago’s.
“The plan as we had originally outlined a couple of weeks ago is not feasible in this time of increased virus spread,” the new plan states. “We also need additional time to address staffing needs based on both health concerns as well as enrollment fluctuations.”
Superintendent Craig Fiegel did not immediately return a request for comment.
Belleville 118 and East St. Louis 189 already announced plans for remote learning. The O’Fallon High School teachers union called for O’Fallon 203 to start remotely on Saturday.
Mascoutah 19’s updated plan has four phases.
The first calls for remote instruction with in-person opportunities for students with the most significant needs based on individualized education plans in the elementary schools and students with specific individualized programming needs at the middle and high schools.
Phase 2 won’t begin until the COVID-19 spread in St. Clair County has trended down for two weeks or more and safety concerns have been addressed. In-person instruction for small groups of 10 or fewer will be available for hands-on classes like shop class and science labs and performance classes, like band and choir. Elementary students in grades kindergarten through third grade will be given priority.
Phase 3 will be a hybrid model, with in-person and remote learning components. That could start with “continued steady or low infection rates” in the area.
After four to six weeks without increased infections, the district would move to Phase 4, with more students introduced into the buildings with hybrid instruction.
Remote learning remains an option for families who don’t want to send their students to school.
Mascoutah Education Agency President Barb Elmore did not immediately return a request for comment.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 6:13 PM.