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In-Person Peoria Public Schools Students Making Full Return To Class on March 1

Peoria Public Schools

The Peoria Public Schools Board of Education gave its unanimous consent to a full return for in-person learners on March 1.
Currently, most students alternate between in-person days and virtual days on an A/B hybrid schedule meant to limit the number of children in the building at any one time.

But Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said the district is well-poised to move forward. Teachers and staff are eligible for peace-of-mind testing through the district. Antigen and PCR testing is also offered.

Kherat said 2,527 COVID-19 tests were administered districtwide since the return to school on Jan. 19. The district currently reports a positivity rate of just 0.67% In Peoria County, the rate is 4.9%.

"The ultimate goal of the Return to School plan has always been to return students back to full days for in-person learning when possible," she said.

In-person students will return to class on Mondays through Fridays for 5.5 hours a day.

The shortened school day is due to a lack of bus drivers. Kherat said the district lost 26 bus drivers since the pandemic's outset. And with the ongoing pandemic, the district has yet to hire replacements.

"We have to figure out a way to still transport the children with the manpower that we have," Kherat said.

Josh Collins is District 150's transportation director, and the chair of the district's Return to School committee. He said changing the school schedule mid-year to allow for a longer school day would create major logistical hurdles.

"To try to change what we are doing by altering the schedule, we would have to rearrange schools," Collins said. "We would have to rearrange a lot in order to accommodate a longer school day. So the disruption to the students and families in the short term would be pretty great."

Collins said he will check with contractor First Student to see if they have any capacity to provide transportation services, but noted they'd not had much luck going that route at the beginning of the school year due to high demand elsewhere.

Kherat said she believes the effort to get teachers vaccinated for COVID-19 is also going well. The health department is in regular communication with administration and staff about vaccination opportunities, she said.

However, she said she doesn't have any hard data available for how many employees systemwide have received a shot.

"It's private information," she said. The district itself is not administering vaccinations.

Kherat said schools have flexibility to reduce the required social distancing from six feet to less. She said that may be reduced to four or three feet, depending on space constraints, but said schools would need to "be creative" to avoid packing classrooms full of 30 or more students, through utilizing other rooms or other means.

Students who are currently on full virtual learning will have the option to remain on those plans.

Only three members of the school board were present in-person at Monday's meeting. Several had questions about the finer details of the plan, but were supportive of the overall proposal.

"I think it is a step toward normalization that we should try to look at, if possible," said board member Dan Walther.

"I support this to provide the richest environment that we can for the remainder of the school year," said board president Doug Shaw.

Kherat told the board she'll flesh out some of the more granular details of the plan at the next meeting.

We’re living in unprecedented times when information changes by the minute. WCBU will continue to be here for you, keeping you up-to-date with the live, local and trusted news you need. Help ensure WCBU can continue with its in-depth and comprehensive COVID-19 coverage as the situation evolves by making a contribution.

Tim is the News Director at WCBU Peoria Public Radio.