Dear District 204 Community,
Last Monday, I shared that we were closely monitoring information from the state and county health departments regarding community transmission of COVID-19. The data released today from the DuPage County Health Department reports a continuation of being in Substantial Community Transmission. The reported new cases per 100,000 has risen from 119 last week to 152 this week. Three weeks ago that number was 79 new cases per 100,000. The nearly doubling of new cases in a three-week period is concerning.
We have learned from the health department that due to the level of increases for both the weekly case count per 100,000 and the weekly youth count numbers, we will remain at Substantial Community Transmission when the health department publishes its data on Monday, November 2. We planned to review three weeks of data before determining if we would remain in remote learning. However, the data for the past two weeks has met our criteria for pausing a move to hybrid, and next week’s data, as already determined by the health department, will also meet the criteria.
I must take action to protect the health and safety of our students and staff, so I am pausing our transition to the hybrid program, which was scheduled to begin on November 2. For now, all students will remain on remote learning through November 13.
Students with special needs who receive services at school will continue to do so. As you know, the State of Illinois placed restrictions on Will and DuPage Counties on Friday. Those restrictions are in place for 14 days. It is my hope that the restrictions will lower the community transmission rate. We will continue to closely monitor metrics and provide you with an update on November 2.
While we know that pausing our transition to hybrid is disappointing to the families that selected this option, we must continue to prioritize the health and safety of our students and staff. We also believe with the data trending in the wrong direction, it makes sense to make this announcement now, instead of next Monday, to help assist families and staff in planning schedules.
We cannot safely open our schools with community transmission levels where they are now. We are doing all we can to make our schools as safe as possible to help reduce community transmission. Please do your part to lower the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing, and staying home when you don’t feel well.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Adrian B. Talley, Ed.D.
Superintendent
