Earlier today, I attended a meeting hosted by our Regional Office of Education. At this meeting, we received updates regarding COVID-19 from our regional superintendent as well as representatives from the Departments of Public Health of both Tazewell and Woodford counties. In addition, I have been in frequent communication with the Mason County Department of Public Health. The information surrounding COVID-19 is rapidly changing, and I want to assure you that Illini Central school personnel are following the developments very closely.
At this time, there are no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in Mason, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provides guidance to schools to aid in the mitigation of the possible spread of the virus. Based on those recommendations, we will still hold tonight’s IC Grade school musical. At this time, we are still cleared to keep school open. However, based on the CDC’s guidance, individuals who are sick should not attend group functions. Those who are known to be a higher risk should also avoid attending large group activities. This includes persons who are above the age of 60 with health conditions as well as anyone who is over the age 80. In addition, please remember that if children are sick, they should not be at school. Students need to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to class after any illness. Please refer to the health guidelines outlined on our district website. Keeping children home when they are sick is critical to prevention.
Next week, school is not in session as we are observing spring break. We will use that time to continue to monitor how this situation develops. As the days pass, we will certainly learn more, and we will be able to make decisions based on better information. We will evaluate ways in which we can minimize exposure to our students, staff and community. This includes determining if we will postpone extracurricular activities, programs, and events. Staff are now working on options to continue education and services in the event that school would need to be closed in order to respond to changing conditions. Please know that we will continue to work closely with the departments of public health and the Illinois State Board of Education to determine the proper course.
I encourage everyone to use the Centers for Disease Control as your source of information in the days ahead. We all will need to work cooperatively in order to keep our students, staff, and community healthy.