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Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education reduced school social distancing from 6 feet to 3 feet. The move had a dramatic impact on the quest to return to in-person classes.
“It’s changed everything,” said one of DeKalb s interim superintendents, Ray Lechner. He said bringing back everyone in-person every day without the rule change would have been very difficult just based on the limited space they have.
Teachers do need to be vaccinated as a part of the rule. Lechner said at least 98% of staff have had a shot.
“It opened up so much having a second dose for staff and the 3-foot distancing, said Lechner. Now we are definitely in the homestretch.
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“According to the county health department, they re talking about mid-February, maybe the last couple of weeks of February, no later than early March,” he said.
Spouses and family members of those educators will not be eligible to get it at the same time.
The health department asked the district to conduct a survey to see how many teachers want to get the vaccine. Around 70-80% said they want to take it.
“We ve asked for legal advice. Can we require people to be [vaccinated]? Well, the answer is yes, with some exceptions,” he said. “If you have a religious purpose for not getting vaccinated, or you have a disability that would prevent you from being vaccinated.”
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Click to listen to the story:
“According to the county health department, they re talking about mid-February, maybe the last couple of weeks of February, no later than early March,” he said.
Spouses and family members of those educators will not be eligible to get it at the same time.
The health department asked the district to conduct a survey to see how many teachers want to get the vaccine. Around 70-80% said they want to take it.
“We ve asked for legal advice. Can we require people to be [vaccinated]? Well, the answer is yes, with some exceptions,” he said. “If you have a religious purpose for not getting vaccinated, or you have a disability that would prevent you from being vaccinated.”