A small number of COVID cases resulting in subsequent contact tracing has forced administrators to go to remote learning at Clinton High School until at least Friday.

Clinton Schools Superintendent Curt Nettles says the DeWitt/Piatt Bi-County Health Department's contact tracing is slow due to the high number of COVID cases in the two-county area and so their efforts resulted in nearly 70 students needing to quarantine.

Will remote learning extend beyond Friday? Nettles says he is committed to bringing students back on Monday, October 26, however, if the COVID situation among their students and staff becomes more severe than it already is, they may have to be in remote learning longer.

As schools get set to face one of their biggest challenges yet, the cold and flu season which coincides with COVID this year, Nettles indicates this hiccup in their in-person learning intentions is not altering his outlook on the winter season because they know there will be sickness coming.

Nettles indicates if the community is not willing to take precautions through the cold and flu season, then the school system will struggle to make it through the winter in-person. He hopes everyone will be responsible and see a doctor when necessary.

He also notes Tuesday will serve as a teacher institute day to get remote learning plans set in motion and they will begin to execute their plan they had at the ready.