- Parents reach out to me and say, "Hey, Mr. Webb,
"if our kids don't go back to school,
"I'm gonna lose my job
"because I've got to stay home with my child."
- This is a never ending drumbeat
with really no end in sight.
- It's not the best.
It's not what we want it to be.
But it's where we are.
- We're still arguing about masks,
and science, and safety and,
whether or not that the virus is a hoax.
- [Doug] As students across the country
prepared to return to school in the midst of a pandemic,
the big questions on the minds of parents,
students, and teachers are whether it will be safe
to return to the classroom in the fall of 2020.
And if it is safe,
what will learning look like?
One state that is struggling to answer those questions
is Illinois.
In parts of the state where the coronavirus
cases and deaths are spiking,
administrators are being cautious.
In August the Chicago Public School System
announced that its entire first semester would be remote.
In other parts of Illinois, outside Chicago,
residents disagree with a mandate
from governor J.B. Pritzker requiring masks in schools.
- Since I've been active here in the city of Quincy,
this has been the most divisive issue that we've seen.
In Quincy we're very distrustful
of edicts coming down from Chicago.
You'll see signs here in Quincy, Illinois
that says Quincy is not Chicago.
And certainly our way of life is a lot different.
- Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Doug.
- Roy.
We came up with that we're going to do
in person instruction, bring kids into the school.
We're gonna have a remote option.
If parents don't feel right for any reason,
they can choose to do that remote learning plan.
- [Doug] Across the country,
schools are assessing their own community's risk,
and in many cases, adopting their own hybrid learning models
that include both remote and in-person options.
- We're gonna require masks.
We're gonna social distance as best we can.
As you come into the schools,
you're going to get your temperature taken.
- [Doug] Recently, the mother of a Quincy fourth grader
sued the city school district
over mask and temperature checked requirements
that have been handed down by
the Illinois State Board of Education.
The mother claims that she and her child would suffer
irreparable injuries, and that the requirements
infringed on her child's right
to an in-person education within the public school.
- There are parents that are encouraging school boards
in some areas of the state to open without masks.
That is against the rules in the state of Illinois.
- [Doug] The case is still ongoing.
The mother's attorney said that she hasn't yet
made up her mind about whether her child
will go to school remotely or attend class with a mask.
- The lawsuit that took place, did it upset the town?
I think there's both sides of that argument.
There are different viewpoints in town, on, on masks,
on the COVID-19 and all the information coming out,
just like the rest of the country.
- [Doug] Webb knows something about
working in challenging conditions.
The former Brigadier general
with the US Army National Guard in Iowa
served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- I've been in combat and nothing compares to,
to what we'd done since March.
It's a, it's difficult.
It's stressful, for my teachers,
for my staff, and for our community.
- [Doug] In Quincy, that division is on full display,
on residents' lawns.
But Webb told me that most of the tension in the town
can be found online.
- I'm on social media, quite a bit.
It's part of my job as superintendent.
So I read the debates and I read what they, they call you.
if you wear a mask.
I read what they call you if you don't wear a mask.
And it's, that's, that's a bit discouraging.
- [Doug] In July, Webb became so frustrated
with the division in town that he wrote a post on Facebook
about the lawsuit calling for unity within the community.
- I Harbor no animosity toward the mother.
I believe she is trying to do what is best for her child.
All our parents in the Blue Devil Family are stressed,
tired, and a little upset.
They are just trying to do the best they can.
- [Doug] At the elementary school,
I talked to principal, Chrissy Cox,
to understand how she is preparing her teachers.
- Hi, I'm Chrissy.
- I'm Doug, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
So I'm going to show you something that we've done
with our nursing offices.
We've created a healthy office,
and then we've also created a sick office.
So if students are having any symptoms of COVID,
they would come to the sick nursing station.
You know, if they just have, need an ice pack, or a bandaid,
they're gonna come to the healthy office.
This is our inexpensive way of ensuring that students
can meet in small groups.
So we're going to provide these for classroom teachers.
- [Doug] Schools in Quincy have received funds
through the CARES Act
to supply students and teachers with masks and sanitizer,
as well as modified classrooms.
But according to Webb, those funds are limited.
- No longer do students sit in desks in rows.
The classroom really looks different.
(knocking)
- Courtney Erfft is a fourth grade teacher at Denman.
- Physically, my room is pretty much how it's gonna be
when the first day of school comes.
So this year they're facing the same direction,
and they're separated this way, and this way
as much as they can be
to accommodate to physical distancing.
Last year, they were set up to be collaboratively learning.
So they were put into groups.
This year, they're going to be more in rows and separated.
- What are you, what's the book,
the quarantine books bin for?
- So this year to keep kids safe
with checking out books in our library,
we will have a bin that they will put the book in
when they're done with it.
So typically in the past,
when they're done with the book,
they just put it back in whatever bin they got it from.
- [Doug] With the town divided,
Principal Cox explained how she was handling
the disagreements on her own team.
- One of the things that is really important to me
is relationship, and ensuring that we can
maintain a positive relationship
even if we have a disagreement on
how things are going to be.
So quite honestly, masks are a huge, you know this right?
Like masks are a huge topic of conversation.
And so I've shared with my staff,
like we're gonna continue to follow the guidelines
and the guidelines are that we're wearing a mask to school.
It is not our job to come to school and tell, and,
and tell people how we feel about masks,
whether we are pro mask or anti mask,
like that's not our job.
Our job is to, is to wear a mask.
- But some residents are skeptical
that a returned to in-person classes can be successful,
even if masks are required.
- It's been disappointing
that our political leadership hasn't taken
more of a stance of enforcing, simple measures to enforce,
to help with our safety.
- [Doug] Glenda McCarty has been an educator
in the Quincy area for 25 years.
- Our daughter has chosen the online Academy.
We, we looked at the science,
we looked at the data,
and made the decision that was best for our family.
We feel that it's too dangerous to send her back
into a large school setting.
- [Doug] As of August 13th Adams County,
which is home to Quincy,
had 580 positive cases and seven deaths.
- So when you look at that data, it appears very safe,
but just within the last three weeks,
our numbers have spiked,
so we're starting to see the trend
that maybe the coastlines or
the larger cities saw in the beginning.
- [Doug] Schools nationwide face uncertainty
due to the pandemic and many have changed their plans.
Superintendent Roy Webb says there's a 50 50 chance
whether Quincy schools will reopen.
As of today, students are set to be back in the classroom
on August 20th.
- In combat, you get a deployment.
You also usually get an end date when you're coming home.
And we don't know when our end date is.