ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. — In the Metro East, some students are getting ready for the first day of school.
But on Friday, some changes are underway, as the latest recommendation from the St. Clair County Health Department and the East Side Health District came out.
"We strongly encourage schools to consider remote learning," Barb Hohlt, the Executive Director of the St. Clair County Health Department said.
It's not mandated, but should be highly considered.
This is based off the latest COVID-19 numbers rolling in on Friday. Hohlt said they are updated weekly on a seven day rolling average.
"In St. Clair County our positivity rate is 8.6%. You want that less than 8% in positivity within your testing range, you feel that you are more than a safe zone and controlling within our community," Hohlt says.
After this news broke, some school districts made a shift.
Belleville Township High School District 201 is now switching from a hybrid program to all virtual, just days out before school starting on Thursday.
"That word on Friday certainly sent ripples through our system," Superintendent Dr. Brian Mentzer said.
Seventy-five percent of the students were looking forward to going back to campus.
But now 4,800 students will all be behind a screen until Sept. 11.
"That recommendation from our health department took us on a different course," Dr. Mentzer explains.
But as students and parents try to adjust with the swift changes, staff are too.
After the recommendation, Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70 took a vote Monday night to stay hybrid or go remote.
They decided to keep the same course for the next nine weeks.
"We're scrambling here to get that going because we didn't know which way it was going to go, if it wasn't go full remote within light of the guidance last Friday or indeed the hybrid," Assistant Superintendent Mark Janssen said.
"The plan is to stay hybrid for the first nine weeks before will formally reevaluated," he added.
Things are changing day by day, so depending on statistics from the health department, schools may have to readjust, once again.