So far, so good: Classes open Monday for roughly half the Du Quoin student body
Du Quoin Unit District 300 opened for classes on Monday with few problems, Superintendent Matt Hickam said.
"It went better than I thought," Hickam said Monday afternoon after the first day was over and the buses departed. "I only hope our second day goes as well."
On Tuesday, it'll be another first day of the new school year for a different group of students who are on the Tuesday-Thursday schedule. Monday's students, meanwhile, will return to school on Wednesday - and all the students who have remote learning on Friday.
The administration initially pitched the blended learning scheduled for just the first few weeks of the year before being re-evaluated, but the school board has extended it through the end of the first quarter, Oct. 16.
"With what we're looking at with community spread (of the COVID-19 virus), we know we aren't going to be able to bring in bigger groups of kids in the near future," Hickam said Monday. The district's goal is to have more in-class learning and less remote learning, but Perry County COVID-19 numbers are continuing to rise.
As well, 192 Du Quoin students took advantage of the "all-remote learning" option, and are learning at home five days a weeks.
Meanwhile, Monday was the first day that the District 300 schools became "hot spots" for students without access to Wi-Fi at home and who need the internet.
Hickam said students can come to the front of the K-8 building to hook up, or go the industrial education parking lot at the high school. "That's where we have the best reception," Hickam said.
As well, Hickam said New Wave Communications told him on Friday they are creating other hot spots in Du Quoin. One of them will be at Ward School, he said, and the other two will be in underserved parts of Du Quoin.
Hickam added the district is applying for state funding that if they get it, they'll buy more hot spots.
After that, he said, they'll take stock of which students still have no access to the internet, and try to help them individually. He said one option would be letting those kids come to school on Fridays, when all the other students are at home, and letting them use the school's internet.