742 Moving Pre-K Through Fifth Grade to Distance Learning

ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud Area will be moving all primary students to distance learning at the end of the month.

Superintendent Willie Jett announced Wednesday that all pre-school through fifth-grade students will be moving to the new model on Monday, November 30th due to the on-going effect of COVID-19 on the local and school community.

We continue to have daily positive cases and quarantines of both students and staff at each of our remaining school sites. Operationally, we see a significant impact on our ability to staff schools, classrooms, and busses. Single-day staff absentee rates range from a low of 7.69 to 27.89 percent and substitute teachers are increasingly hard to find.

Three elementary schools in the district: Clearview, Lincoln, and Talahi are currently in the distance learning model.

Students will not have class the week of November 23rd to allow teachers to prepare for the switch, however, those enrolled in the District Learning Academy will continue schooling uninterrupted.

Jett says the plan is to bring all students in the district back to the hybrid model they were in at the start of the school year on January 4th, following winter break.