MOUNDS, Ill. (WSIL) -- At least five students at a Pulaski County school district contracted COVID-19 since last week, school officials say.
Staff at Meridian Community Unit School District 101 have re-installed plexiglass between students' desks, says superintendent Jon Green. Green says the school district used plexiglass last year and began this school year without them. The return of the plexiglass is part of the school's mitigation plans, Green says.
Since August 12, five students contracted COVID-19, including a newly discovered positive case on Tuesday. The district sent 44 students home for contact tracing measures in that span. The Southern Seven Health Department is expected to notify parents once contact tracing measures end, which Green says they have.
Part of the district's response plan to any positive COVID cases is to revive any mitigations to prevent spreading the virus, Green says. That includes requiring masks, which the district has done since the start of the year, and preparing with personal protective equipment.
"A lot of things right now are out of stock and if you try to find disposable masks you're going to struggle," Green said.
The district's goal is to keep students in the classroom and avoid remote learning. Last year, Green says 80% of students in remote learning failed at least one course. Green says roughly 10-12% of students are remote learning this year. But right now the most important thing, Green says, is keeping everyone in the district safe.
Hopefully things will revert back the other way where we're not having cases," Green said.
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