When the new school year begins next month for the Moline schools, students will have a choice. Monday night the school board approved a combination of in-school and at-home learning.
Superintendent Rachel Savage says the plan is based on surveys of parents, students, and staff, following guidelines from the state.
"They can attend school for two days a week and remote learning the other three days a week, or families can decide to keep their children home for full-time remote learning."
For the students planning to go to school, half will spend a full day on Monday and Tuesday, while the other half will go to school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They'll all spend Fridays learning remotely at home.
"About 19 per cent of our parents were thinking about keeping their kids home full-time in remote learning, and that left about 81 per cent indicating that they would be willing to send their kids back full-time or send their kids back for some days a week."
Doctor Savage says starting on August 1st, parents who want to keep their children home will be able to go online and fill out an electronic form to opt their students out of in-person instruction. Then after the first quarter, or nine weeks of the fall semester, parents can decide to keep their children at home or allow them to begin attending school.
District staff return to work on August 17th, with students beginning, at home or in school, on August 24th.
