AMBOY ­– A revised school calendar was approved on Aug. 5 during an Amboy District 272 Finance Committee meeting. The first day of school for students was moved from Aug. 18 to Monday, Aug. 23 due to some delays in the construction process and getting everything moved into the new junior high school addition.

Amboy Superintendent Joshua Nichols said that despite the efforts of contractors, custodians, students and staff, the new addition would not be ready by Aug. 18. “We simply need a few more days to get the new junior high classrooms as prepared as possible for students and finish moving everything into the new junior high classrooms,” he said.

The change will not affect WACC and Sauk students who will start on their already scheduled days. The WACC bus will leave the high school at 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 18. All athletics and extracurricular activities will also continue on their current schedules, Nichols said.

Even with the delayed start, Nichols emphasized that the entire construction project will not be completed when students start the school year, and construction will continue after the first day of school.

“Unfortunately, the storm shelter area that consists of the new junior high office and cafeteria is one of the areas that will not be completed at the start of the year,” he said. “Due to the construction at the beginning of the year, the junior high temporary office will be the old high school office.”

Nichols apologized for any inconvenience this may cause students and families, but found it to be the best decision to reduce disruption to student learning that the construction and moving process will cause. “This gives us time to have everything ready and looking good in the classrooms,” he said.

He also encouraged anyone with questions, concerns or comments to contact him by phone at (815) 857-2164 or e-mail jnichols@amboy.net.

Return to Learn

Nichols asked the board to table the District’s “Return to Learn” plan, which had been on the agenda for approval. On July 27, a tentative plan was announced by Nichols and included mask guidelines in buildings and on busses, social distancing, testing, contact tracing and quarantines, and remote learning for quarantined students. At that time, he noted that the plan was subject to change depending on the virus and its impact on the district as well as any updated guidance from the Lee County Health Department (LCHD), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

That change occurred on Aug. 4, when a new mask mandate was issued by Gov. Pritzker for all K-12 students in Illinois due to a significant increase in cases in the state. Nichols explained that since this is a state mandate, all schools are required to follow the guidance and non-compliance would result in the District losing state and federal funding and insurance. “We don’t have any leeway on the mask requirement,” he said.

Nichols noted that the school district could hire a lawyer and challenge the mandate in court, but superintendents have been advised against wasting their school district’s money because every previous court challenge has lost. “We have been told that some additional guidance will be coming, so we’re just waiting for that now,” Nichols said.

The next regular board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19 at Central School. All meetings are open to the public.