Catholic school students in central Illinois will have the option of returning to the classrooms this fall.
The Diocese of Peoria, which includes the Bloomington-Normal area, announced Friday that all 42 of its primary and secondary schools will open for the 2020-21 academic year.
Students and parents can choose to enroll in five days a week of in-school instruction, or five days a week of online learning. A hybrid alternative is not included in the Office of Catholic Schools’ Diocesan Plan.
Schools will take several precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person students and employees will be required to wear masks, practice social distancing and proper hygiene, and receive temperature scanning.
The diocese said it consulted with the Peoria and Bloomington-Normal medical communities in forming its plan, as well as school principals and Sharon Weiss, the Diocese’s superintendent of schools.
Guidance documents from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also were followed.
Full details of the reopening plan will be published on the diocese’s website at www.cdop.org and also on individual school websites.
The diocese is asking for families to “serve the common good” by cooperating with their schools, adding the plan may be updated continually as the course of the pandemic “remains fluid.”
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