As area school district begin their preparations for the second semester amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Clinton Board of Education Tuesday night at their monthly board meeting heard what their schools have planned for January and beyond.

Every intention of returning to in-person learning on January 4 is what Superintendent Curt Nettles told his board Tuesday, an announcement that came last week. He recommends sticking with the plan they opened schools with, in the fall. 

Nettles says it would take compelling evidence to alter those plans and is asking parents as the winter break approaches and students remain in remote learning until the end of the semester, to keep the district informed of the COVID situation in their households.

All school buildings in the district are seeing a substantial amount of students returning to in-person learning. Nettles is pleased with that and notes they also have a small number of students that are opting to go to remote learning from in-person learning.

Several districts in central Illinois are opting for an adaptive pause in in-person learning or starting their post-winter break learning in the remote setting. For districts that started later in the fall, most of their semesters will end in mid-to-late January while Clinton schools wrap up their first semester before kids head off for winter break.