The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed through Congress along party lines and signed into law by President Joe Biden last week is welcome assistance for many in Peoria-area local government.
In addition to $1,400 stimulus payments for many Americans and boosted unemployment benefits, the bill includes $7.5 billion for The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to combat the coronavirus.
The bill also includes $140 million in relief funding for Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. For the City of Peoria, the one-time relief funds are welcome to blunt the blow of a painful budget readjustment cycle sparked by reduced revenues as the COVID-19 pandemic set in last spring.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
With the advent of remote learning options during the COVID-19 pandemic, school snow days could start to disappear.
When a cold snap brought snow and below-freezing temperatures to central Illinois last week, Peoria Public Schools District 150 pivoted to at-home instruction four times.
Peoria County Regional Superintendent of Schools Beth Crider said that is just one example of school districts’ growing ability to switch to a virtual alternative on short notice when inclement weather dictates – and that could make the traditional snow day increasingly rare.
“I do believe that when we get past the pandemic, there are a lot of things that are going to stay, and there’s a lot of things that we’re not going to do any more. Snow days is one of those things that might become a thing of the past,” said Crider.