Du Quoin briefs: Looking ahead to 2nd quarter of school

<b>Schools' A/B model will stick for quarter</b>

Three weeks into the school year, Du Quoin Superintendent Matt Hickam said the A/B attendance model is working well and that the biggest problems remain everyone getting comfortable with the technology.

Hickam reiterated that the A/B model will remain in force at least through the end of the first quarter in mid-October. What happens in the second quarter "are discussions we are starting to have," he said Thursday, on if the district can start letting more students back into the schools. It will depend on the state of the COVID pandemic in mid-October, he said, adding the Perry County Health Department wants to use the first six weeks of school as a benchmark, to see how well the school guidelines are working.

"Of course we're going into a holiday weekend, where there is always some apprehension," Hickam added. "We're hoping people make good choices."

<b>Anna gets grant to fight opioid addiction</b>

U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today announced the Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $200,000 grant to Rural Health, Inc. in Anna. This funding, awarded through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, will be used to increase response planning to combat the opioid epidemic in Southern Illinois.