Schools go to e-learning or cancel with freezing rain, hazardous conditions expected
With freezing rain forecasted for early Monday morning making for potentially difficult travel conditions, school districts around the Springfield area announced Sunday that they would go to e-learning or cancel classes.
School District 186 officials initially put families on alert late Sunday afternoon then announced at about 8 p.m. that it would use its second e-learning day of the school year.
The e-learning day plan allows students to receive asynchronous instruction at home, school officials pointed out in an email.
More: Freezing rain could cause havoc for commutes on Monday
Athens, Ball-Chatham, Carlinville, Staunton, Virginia, Litchfield, Taylorville, Mt. Pulaski, Greenview, Pawnee, South Fork, Mt. Olive and Panhandle schools also announced an e-learning day.
The Capital Area Career Center is on an e-learning day.
The Springfield Catholic grade schools will not be in session Monday.
Rochester, Riverton, Sangamon Valley and Williamsville-Sherman schools all canceled classes as did North Mac CUSD #34, which has schools in Girard and Virden and draws students from Sangamon, Macoupin, and Montgomery counties.
"Ensuring the safety of both our students and staff is our highest priority," a Facebook message from Rochester read.
Also out of school on Monday are Sacred Heart Griffin High School, Lutheran High School, and Calvary Academy, in Springfield; Routt Catholic High School in Jacksonville and the Jacksonville, Petersburg PORTA, Beardstown, Illini Central, Palmyra Northwestern, Pana, Bluffs, Meredosia-Chambersburg, Nokomis, Winchester and Waverly school districts.
In-person classes at the University of Illinois Springfield are cancelled. Online classes will still meet.
Lincoln Land Community College cancelled all classes, services and events. It also cancelled its board of trustees meeting scheduled for Monday.
SIU School of Medicine was closed as were many of its Center for Family Medicine clinics.
Millikin University in Decatur suspended normal campus operations for Monday. Administrative offices will be closed, and all scheduled in-person classes, events, practices and meetings are canceled. Virtual/online classes and meetings will still be held.
Springfield and most of central Illinois are under a winter weather advisory from 3 a.m. Monday to midnight Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.
The advisory covers Sangamon, Logan, Cass, Menard, Scott, Morgan, and Christian counties.
School districts are allowed up to five e-learning days if they have adopted a plan approved by its Regional Office of Education. Language in those plans stipulates that the days can only be used in the event of inclement weather conditions when travel is unsafe.
School districts using emergency days will have to make up the days later in the school year.
Most school districts opted for e-learning or an emergency day Tuesday when wind chills plummet to minus-20.
The Springfield forecast includes precipitation for most of Monday, though temperatures were expected to warm up in the afternoon with freezing rain turning to rain.
This story will be updated.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: School districts cancel or go to e-learning ahead of freezing rain
