July 27, 2020
Iroquois Jr./Sr. High School Parents/Guardians:
The administration realizes what a trying time this is for all of our families within the district. We have been working hard this summer preparing for all of the different contingencies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is obviously made more difficult by the federal and state mandates that change on a daily basis. The purpose of this letter is to help clarify the current plan for the start of the 2020-21 school year. It is our sincerest hope that this will help you decide the best course of action for your student’s return.
At the time of this letter, the Iroquois School District is planning to receive students on August 25, 2020 for their first day of classes. Our current plan is to bring the students back for a traditional schedule of seven periods and a tutorial. Classes will be conducted every day, Monday through Friday. Under this plan, we are requiring students to wear masks and we have reduced most class sizes to allow for as much social distancing as feasible. In this “green phase”, students will also be eating lunch in the cafeteria with the social distancing procedures as much as feasible.
If the numbers of COVID cases rise in Pennsylvania, we have a number of contingencies for our schedule. It is possible that we would continue with school using an A/B (every other day) set up. This is likely to occur if the state would move into a “yellow phase”. If we do go to an A/B schedule the class sizes would be reduced by half. Students would also be required to eat lunch in their fifth period classroom.
As you are aware, we are keeping the health and safety of our students at the forefront of every decision that we make. To help us with finalizing all of our plans, we are urging that all families complete the survey listed on our website - http://bit.ly/iroquoisparentsurvey. Student schedules will be made available through Infinite Campus on August 10, 2020 with a finalized version being mailed home after that time. You can contact the High School Office or the Pandemic Coordinator; Karen Barringer at kbarringer@iroquois.iu5.org with any questions.
Douglas Wilson
Principal I.H.S.
814-899-7643 ext. 1501