GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS
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-8/< â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Vol. 151, No. 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; &DUUROOWRQ ,OOLQRLV
INSIDE NEWS County Clerk informs residents of voting law changes. See page A3
SCHOOL
Berry named Dean of Students at NG. See page A3
SPORTS
Let the games begin. See page A9
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Carrollton addresses coming school year By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press It is looking less and less like students will be going back to the classroom in the fall. Carrollton Superintendent Mark Halwachs informed the board at the July 20 school board meeting that several teacher-related organizations had determined that remote learning would probably be better to start the school with. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported that the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s union in Chicago said the year should start with remote learning,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then, last night about 8:30 p.m., the Illinois Federation of Teachers issued a press release in Springfield for the state in general. They represent the public school teachers, and they said the year should begin with remote learning as well. The Illinois Education Association, this evening, made a release along similar lines.â&#x20AC;? However, no decision is being made at this time as the rules of the game keep changing from day-to-day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;None of us really know what is going to happen,â&#x20AC;? Board Chairman Rodney Reif said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are in the dark along with the other school districts. Since the end of June, when they released the information for going back to the classroom, they have made eight changes to the rules, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure there
Carmen Ensigner/Greene Prairie Press
John Schild from Eldred takes the oath of office Monday night. The Carrollton district swore in Schild as the newest member of the school board at the school board meeting.
will be more to come.â&#x20AC;? Board member Melissa Wade said the longer schools wait to make a final decision, the more parents are going to want to keep their kids home. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is really sad is that I already know 10 to 15 kids who are going to be homeschooled next year,â&#x20AC;? she said. (See, SCHOOL YEAR, A2)
North Greene not quite ready to release back-to-school guidelines By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press While North Greene School District is getting ready to register its students, it is not ready to release any information on guidelines that students and staff must adhere to once school is back in session. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our Transition Team held a meeting last Monday, and we just kind of sat down and started throwing ideas out there if we were to return to school under the current guidelines and how that would work,â&#x20AC;? North Greene Superintendent Mark Scott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, we are not going to release anything to the public until we get more guidance from the ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) and the IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health).â&#x20AC;? Current guidelines require the wearing of mask by all students and staff, checking temperatures upon entering the school, social distancing and cleaning and disinfecting the school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But as far as our plan, we got a lot of things in place, but we are waiting til after the end of July or the beginning of August to release that plan to the public,â&#x20AC;? Scott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are just too many unknowns right now. Why release a plan to the public that is going to change three times before we actually start school?â&#x20AC;? Registration for the new school year has been set for Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and parents are encouraged to
register their students online. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is our first year for the online registration,â&#x20AC;? Scott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have it set up where anybody who has internet access can register their returning students online. New students or pre-k and kindergarten students need to be registered in person.â&#x20AC;? Scott gave an update on the summer maintenance projects including the resurfacing and sealing of the parking lots and play areas of the various buildings. The parking lots at the high school and unit office were redone as well as the upper and lower playgrounds at the elementary school in Roodhouse. Two of the three new air conditioning units at the Jr./Sr. High School have been installed with a third one set to be installed soon. These three units were paid for with funds from the $50,000 Maintenance Grant that the district received earlier this year. It is a 50/50 grant with the district also contributing $50,000 to the project. Discussion was held about the school calendar. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Regional Office of Education canceled their institute in October, so we are looking at having an additional teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s institute at the end of the year for this school year,â&#x20AC;? Scott said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are going to start off with two teacher institute days, and it looks like Aug. 20 will be the first day for students this year.â&#x20AC;? Several new hires were announced (See, GUIDLINES, A3)
County lagging behind Health department urges caution following in census response By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press Greene County residents have been lax in their response to the 2020 census with only 57.3 percent of the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents self-responding to the census survey. Gordon Wayman, from the U.S. Census Bureauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Springfield office, appealed to both the Greene County Board and the Carrollton City Council last week to encourage residents to complete the survey and explain why it is so important. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One thing that we are really concerned about is how low Greene County is compared to the rest of the state,â&#x20AC;? Wayman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are some counties who have a rate of 85 percent self-reponding. We really need to get everyone motivated and understanding how important the census is.â&#x20AC;? Most of the funding the communities get from the state and federal governments are based on the census count. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is why it is critical we get everyone counted,â&#x20AC;? Wayman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Census responses provide data that can attract new businesses and the jobs that come with them. It also dictates where over $675 billion in federal funding is spent each year.â&#x20AC;? Some of the programs that receive this money are Medicare Part B, special education, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Cooperative Extension Service, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and water and waste disposal systems for rural communities. Wayman said that the amount of funding received per person, per year ranges from $600 to $1,000.
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
Hometown Pride â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Southwestern Eye Care The Carrollton Lions Club presented Carrolltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest business, Southwestern Eye Care, with the Hometown Pride award for July. The full-service eye care center boasts three optometrists, Laura Longnecker, Amanda Gerson and Dena Bachman. Bachman has a similar facility in Brighton. Left to right: Lions Club members John Quandt, Nick Graham, Gordon Rahe and Jason Young and Southwestern Eyecare employees Dr. Laura Longnecker, Meghan Field, Katie Norris, Elizabeth Reno and Dr. Amanda Gerson. Not pictured is Dr. Dena Bachman.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say it is in the middle and $800 per person per year,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over a 10 year period, that equates to $8,000 for person who was alive on April 1. Each person who is not counted is losing a lot of money for you.â&#x20AC;? Wayman noted that there are 17 programs in the county that are dependent on the census count. These include roads, schools, the health department, vaccines, senior services, libraries, first responders, head start, fire departments, police departments, school meals, supportive housing for the elderly and food assistance programs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because there are so many programs and departments affected, we really need to do all we can to motivate people to respond,â&#x20AC;? Wayman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In this day and age, people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to because of privacy issues, but it is safe and secure and none of the information is given out. It is used strictly for statistical purposes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; determining funding and representation in Congress.â&#x20AC;? In an effort to get people to fill out the census, Public Health Administrator Molly Peters has started a sort of â&#x20AC;&#x153;social media competitionâ&#x20AC;? among the various towns. Carrollton and Greenfield are leading the competition with Carrollton standing at 67.1 percent of the residents responding as of July 5 followed by Greenfield at 66.9 percent. White Hall stands at 64.1 percent while Roodhouse is lagging behind at 54.9 percent. Among the smaller communities, Bluffdale and Eldred sit at 48.9 and 42.7 percent, respectively. Wrights, Kane and Walkerville are not far behind at 42.9, 40.4 and 34.2, respectively. Lastly, Rockbridge and Hillview (See, CENSUS, A2)
COVID-19 case spike By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press
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he State of Illinois has been open less than a month, and new restrictions have already begun popping up concerning COVID-19. Stores such as Walmart, Target, Home Depot and others have made wearing a mask mandatory. Kroger in Carrollton closed the store at around 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, July 10, for cleaning, after an employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Greene County Public Health Administrator Molly Peters said the county has seen a spike in positive cases since the Fourth of July holiday, which included many family gatherings. It typically takes 10 to 14 days before symptoms begin to appear in those who have been exposed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The timeline of the increase in cases coincides with the Fourth of July holiday,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the holiday definitely has had an impact on the increase in cases we are seeing.â&#x20AC;? After weeks of not seeing a positive case in the county, Greene County had five positive cases in one week, putting the county total at 13 positive cases. And Peters said she expects even more cases. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of the cases we are seeing from the gatherings on the Fourth,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are expecting that
there will be more cases,t so it is very important that everyone stay home if they are feeling sick or have symptoms. We believe there are more people out there who have the virus but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know it yet.â&#x20AC;? One of the criteria for being tested for the virus is to be in direct contact with a positive individual for at least 10 to 15 minutes within the 6-foot social distancing space.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of the cases we are seeing from the gatherings on the Fourth.â&#x20AC;?
Molly Peters Greene County Public Health Administrator Because of the uptick of cases, the North Greene Back To School Bash will not take place in the same manner as in the past. Typically, children and their parents gather in Whiteside Park where games are set up for the children and food given out to everyone. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The way they have held it in the past just presents an issue with too much exposure,â&#x20AC;? Peters said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know that people are wanting the kids back in school, and if we see a lot of gatherings and a lot of cases, it is going to make it very hard to keep the return to school plan as it is.â&#x20AC;?