With children and students stuck inside, many joining their parents as they work from home and manage an e-learning schedule, families across Illinois are questioning if summer camps will be available during the global coronavirus outbreak.
Already, some locations have announced cancellations or changes to their summer camp scheduling,
Oak Park and River Forest High School announced the youth portion of its annual Summer Camp Program will be canceled this summer.
"This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, as this type of community activity is important to us as a school district," a letter from the school's athletic department read. "However, in consideration of the safety of all participants, we are unable to properly support these programs this summer due the extraordinary and unanticipated circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic."
The decision impacts youth summer camps and the Huskie Swim Camp, the district said, but high school programming is still being reviewing and no decisions have been made.
"Offering a robust summer camp experience for our high school students remains a priority for us," the letter read.
The Chicago Park District moved its online registration dates for summer from April 20-21 to May 11-12.
"In-person registration will be held once deemed safe by the governor and the CDC," the district said.
Summer programming remained on schedule as of Monday, with summer day camp starting June 22 and ending July 31.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said last week that a decision over whether the state's stay-at-home order will be extended is coming, an indication of what could be in store for summer. Currently, the order is in effect through April 30.
"We're speculating," he said. "Remember, everything about this is new. And so it's very difficult to make projections months in advance of something. But, you know, as a parent of children who have in the past gone to camp, I know all the planning is occurring now and so we'll try to give some indication if we can, but it's hard to do."
In-classroom instruction has already been suspended for the remainder of the school year across Illinois.
