Students in the Rock Island School District will have to stay home and learn remotely for a while longer. On Monday, Superintendent Reginald Lawrence announced the schools will not re-open next week as he had hoped.
When the new school year opened on August 6th, he planned for remote learning until Labor Day, then for children to return to their schools at least a couple of days a week. But the pandemic has not abated in the Quad Cities, and in fact has gotten worse.
"And to just see the number of surrounding districts that are now transitioning back to remote learning after possibly trying to do a blended learning model, maybe being open for two days or a week or a couple weeks, I just felt that the risks far out-weighed the benefits with respect to keeping our staff and students safe."
Dr. Lawrence now says remote learning will continue until at least the end of the first quarter of the school year.
"We've had some practice since March of last year and we've definitely gotten better - more responsive, you know more engaging lessons, and more live contact with families. So I think that it was the best way to start."
The first quarter for Rock Island schools ends on October 2nd, followed by a two-week inter-session, with the second quarter starting on October 19th.
