Schools
1,200 District 303 Students, Staff Absent Monday: Superintendent
District 303 is continuing to push forward with in-person learning but will switch to remote if needed, school officials said Monday.
ST. CHARLES, IL — Like many school district across the Chicago area and nation, COVID-19 cases among staff and students within St. Charles District 303 have jumped dramatically following their return to school after winter break.
On Monday, 188 employees and 1,119 students were absent, according to the Kane County Chronicle. The school district has about 12,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Last week, which was D303's first week back back after winter break, a total of 114 positive tests were identified through SHIELD testing, according to D303's COVID dashboard. That is a 533 percent jump in the districts' prior record week for COVID-19 cases, which occurred between Dec. 13 and 17 when 18 cases were identified through SHIELD tests.
Find out what's happening in St. Charlesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
District 303 is signed up to use the University of Illinois' SHIELD Illinois COVID-19 saliva test as a way to regularly identify COVID cases in schools.
School Superintendent Jason Pearson told school board members during their meeting Monday that the district is working hard hard to find ways to keep classes going with in-person learning, according to the Kane County Chronicle. But also prepping parents to be ready if they will have to shift to remote learning.
Find out what's happening in St. Charlesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“If we find ourselves in a situation where we find that it’s necessary, we will try to do a building by building or classroom by classroom closure as opposed to anything that would be across the district,” Pearson said.
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