Dist. 229 school board doubles in-person attendance time for rest of 2021
Star Courier
Kewanee Dist. 229 parents will have the option of sending their kids to school four days a week starting next week, but individual students will retain the option of taking classes online.
The school board voted unanimously Monday to allow nearly full-time in-person instruction at all Dist. 229 attendance centers, with Mondays continuing to be an “online only day” to facilitate teacher planning and intensive building-cleaning.
“We’re confident we can do this at Neponset and all of our schools located in Kewanee,” said Supt. Chris Sullens.
Students and teachers have adhered to a hybrid education model since the end of last school year, with two cohorts of students receiving two days of face-to-face instruction and two days of at-home online coursework on staggered days. Students also have been able to choose an online-only option.
Just one Kewanee race in spring elections will be contested; write-in window still open
Only one race in Kewanee will be contested
Mike Berry
The Star Courier
Though the just-completed national election featured many close contests and intrigue that ran well past the vote-counting, this spring’s local elections won’t bring anywhere near that level of excitement to Kewanee voters.
Kewaneeans this spring will be asked to vote in a city council election, two school board elections and a park district election on April 6 but in only one of those contests will there be an actual contest between multiple candidates.
Dist. 229 school board pauses in-person learning over holiday break
Star Courier
The Kewanee District 229 board of education approved for early January a schedule of remote learning in response to COVID-19.
Students will not return immediately after winter break, the board decided during at last week s December meeting. Instead, they will be on a remote-learning schedule Jan. 4 to Jan. 8.
The Illinois State Board of Education allows schools to enact what it calls an “adaptive pause” closing a school to in-person instruction as a COVID-19 safety protocol.
In this case, delaying a return to the classroom provides additional time to assess student and teacher health before entering the general school population.