Early dismissal cancelled on Aug. 21 as protective measure for children.
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ROCHELLE — Monday's first day of school was originally slated to be an early dismissal day, but Rochelle Elementary School students will now go to class until 3 p.m. due to the solar eclipse.
District 231 superintendent Todd Prusator sent out an alert to parents Monday evening, explaining that the school leaders are not comfortable sending students home during the eclipse and risk unsupervised children looking at the eclipse with no eye protection.
Prusator released the following statement:
"Due to the solar eclipse that is occurring on Monday, Aug. 21, we are making some changes to our schedule for the first week of school.
The time of the eclipse in this area is approximately 11:50 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Our scheduled 1:30 p.m. dismissal time on Monday would be right in the middle of the eclipse, which would present some risk for students with limited supervision if they would view the eclipse without appropriate protective eye wear.
Therefore, we are going to dismiss at 3 p.m. on Monday, and will now have early dismissals at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Also, due to recent concerns about the quality of some of the protective eye wear, the district will not be taking students outside during the eclipse to view with protective glasses.
We apologize for any inconvenience of the change in schedules and appreciate your support.