District 117 Superintendent Statement on Governor’s School Closure

By Jeremy Coumbes on March 13, 2020 at 6:21pm

District 117 Superintendent of Schools Steve Ptacek issued the following statement this evening following Governor J.B. Pritzker’s order for the closure of all public schools in Illinois.

Good evening,

Today the Governor’s office closed all schools starting Tuesday, March 17. Currently the return date is Monday, March 30, but he stated that the return date will be analyzed.

I have a webinar on Tuesday to get more information, and I will update you afterwards. We have many questions that need to be answered. We are fortunate that our spring break is included in this closure.

These will be classified as Act of God days so they will not be required to be made up.

I can’t thank everyone enough for the understanding and partnership we have seen in this threatening time.

I have been actively working with the Morgan County Health and Emergency Management Departments throughout this week. I am so glad we have the strong leadership of Dale Bainter and Phil McCarty, directors of those departments, helping lead us through this rough time.

We are going to allow this weekend’s play but we will be limiting the seating to 200 in the audience. There are approximately 50 in the cast and this would bring the limit to the CDC suggested guidelines. After the play, we will not have any events at the district until further notice.

I will update you as I learn more. At this time, Monday is a normal day at school.

Steve Ptacek