Good afternoon:
As you know, Governor Pritzker issued an executive order that establishes a Stay at Home condition in Illinois. This will extend the closure of Illini Central schools through April 7, 2020.
The governor declared school closure days through March 30 as Act of God Days. These are days that do not have to be made up. Schools are encouraged to provide learning activities to students during that time. The activities are not graded and do not count against a student's overall grade. Illini Central teachers will provide these activities beginning Wednesday, March 25th.
The Illinois State Board of Education has not yet provided guidance regarding the closure dates of March 31-April 7. It is very likely that schools will be required to provide remote learning experiences during this window. Our teachers and staff are working to develop activities that students will access through online tools such as Class Dojo and Google Classroom. We will provide Chromebooks for students in grades 2-12 who do not have home computers that they can use.
On Tuesday, March 24, we will notify you of the specific plans and tools that we will use during this closure. We will also notify you of the schedule for parents to pick up Chromebooks at school. This will be a drive up system, and we will bring the Chromebooks to your vehicle.
We ask that you remain patient as we organize and implement this system. I am sure that you have questions, and we will do our best to answer them. Once we receive guidance from ISBE regarding the requirements of the extended closure, we will share with you.
We will begin our delivery of meals on Monday, March 23. We will deliver 3 days of meals on Monday and follow that with a delivery of 2 days of meals on Thursday. We will use our bus routes to deliver meals to your door. We plan to begin delivery at about 9:30 am. Our rural delivery will follow existing bus routes. For those who live in the towns of Easton, Mason City, and San Jose, we have created routes for those drop-offs. If you have signed up for meal delivery, we ask that you please place a labeled cooler or a box near your front door. If you have not yet signed up, but would like to, please call 217-482-5180 ext. 1815.
I want to thank you all for your patience and support as we work through this situation. I encourage you to follow Stay at Home guidance as well as the recommendations of the CDC. We will continue to communicate with you in a timely manner. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the school at 217-482-5180 ext. 1815 or email schoolclosure@illincentral.org. I encourage you to frequently check the district website at www.illinicentral.org for updates.