Dear District 204 Community,
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) released Revised Public Health Guidance for Schools on Tuesday. The guidance states that all schools must use the five essential mitigation strategies that are key to safely delivering in-person instruction and mitigating COVID-19 transmission in school. District 204 is already adhering to the mitigation strategies that include requiring face masks, social distancing, contact tracing, schoolwide cleaning and disinfection, and promoting hand washing and respiratory etiquette.
The key change is the revised recommendation for social distancing. ISBE and IDPH now say schools can operate at 3 to 6 feet of social distance in order to provide in-person learning. Unvaccinated staff should maintain 6 feet of social distance as much as possible because adults remain more susceptible to infection than children. ISBE and IDPH stress face masks must be required regardless of whether schools use 3 or 6 feet of social distance. Strict adherence to 6 feet of social distancing must be maintained when face masks are removed in limited situations such as when students are eating lunch.
Although ISBE and IDPH guidance has eased social distance recommendations, the quarantine requirements for “close contacts” have not changed for purposes of quarantine. Any student who was within 6 feet of a confirmed case of COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more will need to quarantine.
The revised guidance means the following changes will occur immediately to our in-person learning:
Early childhood: Parents received confirmation this week of their child’s move from remote to in-person learning and the new schedule of increased days beginning the week of March 15.
Elementary school: Remote students who were on the waitlist for in-person instruction will be moved to in-person. The remote families who selected in-person instruction at a different school or with a different teacher because their child’s classroom could not accommodate additional students will have the option to return to their original classroom. Elementary principals will be communicating with families about these changes.
Middle school and high school: Only a limited number of alternative learning spaces will be used allowing students to be in their classrooms for instruction.
We are reviewing the revised guidance to determine how we can increase in-person instruction for all grade levels. Our plan is for elementary, middle, and high school students to move to five days of in-person instruction after Spring Break. Additional schedule changes and dates will be presented to the Board of Education at the March 22, 2021, meeting.
Sincerely,
Adrian B. Talley, Ed.D.
Superintendent
