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More Questions Than Answers On How Schools Will Teach This Fall

Tim Shelley
/
WCBU
Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat.

There are more questions than answers when it comes to students returning to classrooms this August.
 
Peoria County Regional Superintendent of Schools Beth Crider said there's several potential scenarios.
 
Those potential scenarios range from an extension of the remote learning in place since March if the stay-at-home order is still in effect; to reacclimating students and teachers alike to physical classrooms again, with social distancing protocols in place.

 
"The best we can do in Peoria County is plan for all those scenarios, so that we're ready and we have the tools we need to implement school in the fall, no matter what that looks like," Crider said.
 
Area superintendents are talking about how the upcoming school year looks on a regular basis.
 
Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said remote learning may be here to stay - at least for students who opt for it.
 
"They should be given that option. Parents should be given that option, and if they do want to remote, why not?" she asked.
 
She noted that some families may not want to send students back to physical school buildings this fall amid coronavirus fears. The district first began using remote learning days as a home-based learning alternative to snow days.
 
Kherat says though the pandemic is "wicked," it has provided an opportunity for school districts to experiment with alternative methods of teaching.
 
The concept of "looping in," or keeping a group of students with the same teacher over multiple grade levels, is also on the table as a way to address learning gaps caused by the hastened transition to remote learning.

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Tim was the News Director at WCBU Peoria Public Radio. He left the station in 2025.