Amid escalating local COVID-19 cases, Glencoe District 35 officials are shifting to a remote format until at least January, Superintendent Catherine Wang announced Friday.
The shift to an all-remote approach will start Nov. 30 and last until Jan. 15. In a Nov. 20 letter to the community, Wang said the decision was not an easy one for the school board. She pointed to health and travel quarantines as the district follows current Illinois Department of Health protocols.
“Currently we are experiencing absences approaching 15% across our student and staff population, and we expect that number to grow dramatically as community rates of transmission surge in our region and holiday travel occurs,” Wang wrote. “Such disruptions in attendance negatively impact our educational programs and instructional delivery.”
The decision comes as there has been a 115% percent increase in Glencoe cases through Nov. 14 over the previous 14 days, according to the latest information posted on the Cook County Health Department website.
The three District 35 schools had been operating in a hybrid model where children were given in-person learning for part of the day. However, the in-person option will now be put on hold after classes on Nov. 24, the last day before Thanksgiving break.
“This adaptive pause will enable District 35 to provide consistent, predictable and robust learning via our remote model, one we have been preparing and training for since last summer. Our teachers are ready,” Wang wrote.
Wang is anticipating the hybrid format to return Jan. 19, two weeks after the end of winter vacation, with a series of precautions in place.
Wang wrote that families and staff who travel over winter vacation and return to the area by Jan. 4 should complete a required 14-day quarantine before going back into the building. She said all students and staff must have a negative COVID-19 test prior to going back to in-person learning. The district will providing free testing on Jan. 11 and 12, or a family can supply results of a PCR test conducted in Illinois between Jan. 10-14.
“The administration and Board of Education recognize that this adaptive pause will cause difficulties, and even disappointment, for our families,” Wang added. “We believe, however, this approach ensures a clear path for us to return to in person learning in the new year.”
Representatives of the Glencoe Education Association — the union that represents the district’s teachers — expressed their approval of the plan.
“The teachers and teacher associates are pleased with the decision to proceed with an adaptive pause as it is the safest option for the District’s students and staff,” said co-presidents Karen Leeds and Heather Bauer in a statement through a union spokeswoman.
In mid-October, District 35 shifted South School — the home for kindergarten through second graders — to all remote following one student and four staff members testing positive for COVID-19. The school re-opened two weeks later.
With the shift to full remote learning, the Glencoe Park District announced their children’s programming options during the time the schools operate in remote mode.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter.