More than 20% of Du Quoin High School students on quarantine; extracurriculars temporarily canceled

With more than 20% of the student body on COVID-19 quarantine, Du Quoin High School has put all extracurricular activities on hold until at least next week Tuesday.

District 300 Superintendent Matt Hickam said as of Wednesday morning the school knew of six active cases of COVID-19 among the high school student body. The other quarantined students are out because they have had close contact with a positive case of the coronavirus - not with the six student cases, but with COVID cases from outside of school, Hickam said.

Meanwhile, Du Quoin High School remains open, despite rumors to the contrary on social media, the superintendent said. He sent messages to all District 300 families on Wednesday, confirming that the high school is still open.

"We're in session, and we're going to remain in session unless something significant blows up," Hickam said. "I can't imagine a scenario where we would go back to full remote."

The only way that could happen, he added, was if the high school itself became a COVID hot spot. There is no evidence of that occurring, he said.

Also, before a school can go full remote, a school must consult with its county health department.

Moreover, Hickam said sending all students home could be seriously counterproductive.

"We've got the fair going on (Du Quoin State Fair) and we know people are still out and active," he said. "Would we be actually increasing the risk of spread?"

However, because of the nearly 200 students now on remote learning, District 300 will end classes at 2 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday next week, to give teachers more time to concentrate on their remote learners, Hickam said.

Also next week, District 300 is going to get started on schedule with its after-school programming. For K-8 students that programming tends toward academic enhancement, while at the high school it's more about interest-based clubs.

By canceling extracurriculars, all sports games and practices have been shut down, including Friday's football game in Harrisburg where the 1-0 Indians were scheduled to take on the 1-0 Bulldogs in their second game of the season. The band has also been temporarily shut down.

Hickam said the quarantine is directly touching virtually every extracurricular at the high school. The football team has some players who have tested positive for COVID and others who have had direct contact with patients outside of school. Some members of the volleyball and dance teams are also on quarantine.

Next Tuesday, district officials will evaluate the situation and determine if extracurriculars can come back or will have to remain on hiatus.

Hickam said as of Tuesday, there were 15 positive cases of COVID-19 in District 300 altogether, including one member of the staff/faculty. More than 40 K-4th graders and around 25 middle schoolers are on quarantine.

Hickam said during the 2020 pandemic, Du Quoin Elementary School had the fewest COVID cases of any building, but this year the youngest students are catching up. No vaccine has been approved by the FDA for children under 12.

This school year, the number of faculty/staff who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 is in the low single digits and fewer than 10 teachers have been out on quarantine.

<b>Latest Perry County numbers</b>

Meanwhile, countywide from last Thursday to Wednesday morning, the Perry County Health Department says it has been notified of 134 additional cases of COVID-19.

Of the 134, 16 are ages 0-12 and 18 are ages 13-17. Eighty-two are between ages 18 and 64, and 18 cases are among people 65 and older. On Tuesday, the health department announced that a man in his 50s had died, bringing the COVID-related death toll to 68 in Perry County since the pandemic began.

As of Wednesday morning there were 201 current active cases known in the county, and 3,759 former patients had been released from isolation.