As Clinton Schools wind down their first semester this week, Superintendent Curt Nettles says it was a tough decision to keep kids out of school for the remainder of the semester but does not regret the decision.

On the WHOW Morning Show Wednesday, Nettles told Regional Radio News prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, there would be nearly 200 students out, cases were increasing and the administrative team felt it would be best to go full remote for three weeks. He adds they felt their remote plan was very strong and ready to go.

Putting a threshold on cases or students in quarantine would limit the district's flexibility in making a decision about remote learning. Nettles says doing something like that would box them into decisions they perhaps would not need to make.

As the first semester winds down and the second semester is on the horizon at the turn of the calendar year, Nettles does not claim to have been perfect during this school year unlike any other but says he will work to do better.

Even with students home for remote learning the next two days and winter break the two weeks following, Nettles hopes families will keep the school district informed as to the COVID activity happening in their homes, which will help them come out of winter break. He indicated Tuesday night at the December Board of Education meeting, he has every intention of bringing kids back on Monday, January 4 for in-person learning.