Mary Morgan Elementary School temporarily ceases in-person instruction

The Byron Community Unit School District has temporarily ceased in-person instruction for its elementary students. Mary Morgan Elementary School implemented a temporary shutdown, or an “adaptive pause,” for the next two weeks, beginning Tuesday, Oct. 6 and concluding Monday, Oct. 19.

Students who attend Byron Middle School and Byron High School will not be affected by the temporary shutdown.

The only students transitioning from in-person instruction to remote learning are the elementary school students. The District has taken this step in consultation with local health officials in order to respond to increasing COVID-19 cases and quarantines.

Byron Superintendent, Buster Barton, explained, “We had three confirmed positive cases and dozens of quarantines last week at Mary Morgan Elementary School. Our hope was to avoid a temporary shutdown, but on Monday afternoon, we received new data from the Ogle County Health Department indicating increased symptomatic students traced back to the original area of concern.

“In light of this new information, we felt that taking this adaptive pause was the appropriate step in order to help ensure the safety of our students and staff and to ensure that we could continue to offer in-person instruction at Mary Morgan.

“It has always been our District’s goal to provide in-person education to our students for as long as possible during this Pandemic. Mary Morgan’s temporary shutdown will help us achieve that goal.”

During the closure the school will be conducting additional cleaning and disinfecting to ensure everyone’s safety. The Byron School District and the health department are asking families to limit interaction outside of the home and to monitor students’ symptoms closely. “OCHD has been working closely with the Byron School District since school has resumed this year.

“The district has been doing a great job attempting to isolate individual situations to keep students and staff safe. We believe that a two-week adaptive pause to in-person learning is necessary to ensure that we control viral spread within the schools,” stated Kyle Auman, Ogle County Public Health Administrator.

Superintendent Barton added, “We understand that this temporary shutdown will cause families to be inconvenienced, but if this adaptive pause helps prevent a prolonged closure, it is the best course of action. We appreciate the support from our families and community while we navigate this challenging time.”

All inperson students at Mary Morgan Elementary are scheduled to return to school for in-person instruction on Tuesday, Oct. 20.