MORTON, Ill. (WMBD) — One central Illinois school district is reporting its lowest covid-19 case count so far this school year.
Morton District 709 leaders are reporting two students out of more than 3,000 are currently out. Two staff members are also at home due to COVID-19 cases.
Superintendent Jeff Hill said parents help prevent the spread of the virus by keeping students home when they’re sick. He believes there are multiple factors playing into why cases are low.
“I think vaccinations are a factor obviously, and then obviously the mitigations that we’re following, so it’s a combination,” said Hill.
While Morton schools are following the state’s mask mandate, he hopes the district can eventually put its own plan into place.
“We just want to have the ability to select the tiered mitigations that make the most sense for the level of transmission in our school district and have those choices locally,” said Hill.
Hill said the district is taking it one day at a time but said the school year is off to a more normal start.
Last year, there was a spike in COVID-19 cases around mid-November. He said football games are drawing a large crowd and said a lot of people traveled to Morton for the Pumpkin Festival, but it’s not affecting cases so far.
“We take it a day at a time and make sure that we’re paying close attention to data and where we are at in each school, and right now we’re in a really good spot,” said Hill.