Schools To Start Year Remotely At Most Niles Township Schools

SKOKIE, IL — Of the 10 public school districts in Niles Township, nearly all are scheduled to begin the school year remotely. Individual volunteer school boards and district administrators — some in charge of just a single school — have each drawn up distinct plans for the 2020-21 school year, aiming to balance guidance from public health officials, staff and the community.

Some set a target date for providing a plan for allowing students back into school buildings for in-person or hybrid remote and in-person instruction. Others committed to entirely e-learning until winter break. Several district representatives promised to make decisions based on research and scientific data, although none of them specified which metrics, if any, would go into making the decision.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has released regional and statewide metrics that would lead to increased mitigation and, potentially, a mandated return to remote learning if the state regresses from Phase 4 to Phase 3 of his Restore Illinois plan.

Teachers unions have publicly warned of strikes if they find safety precautions insufficient, and closed-door meetings to discuss collective bargaining issues have been a regular feature on recent suburban school board agendas.

Find below a brief rundown of information provided by Niles Township High School District 219 and the nine public elementary school districts in Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie:

Golf School District 67

The 722-student, two-school district is set to begin the year remotely until further notice. A survey collecting feedback about the return to school framework remains open through Aug. 10, the deadline for parents or guardians to opt for fully remote learning or the hybrid option.

"Optimistically, we are hoping to roll out the hybrid model sometime in the fall," Superintendent Susan Coleman said last week in a letter to parents.

Skokie School District 68

Leaders of the four-school, 1,823-student district approved a plan Wednesday to stick with exclusively remote learning for about 87 percent of its students, until "notification by the state superintendent that Remote and Blended Remote Learning Days are no longer be necessary," according to the plan approved by the school board Wednesday. Administrators said they had invited 150 students who receive special education services and at least 86 kindergarten through 2nd-graders who qualify for English language services to participate in in-person learning with classes of up to 10 students at a time.

Superintendent James Garwood said coronavirus statistics are not headed in the right direction to make offering optional in-person or remote instruction viable. He said some other counties had managed to successfully reopen schools during the pandemic with safety precautions in place to prevent outbreaks. But not all have managed to keep infections from spreading in schools.

"The difference has been that those countries that were successful were supported by national and local safety measures that were followed by the vast majority of the public. In other words, those that were able to open successfully were able to do so because of widespread community support in making the kinds of sacrifices required to get the situation under control in the general public before trying to open schools," Garwood told parents and guardians. "Unfortunately, that has not been the case in the United States where adherence to safety precautions has been sporadic and the virus continues to spread at alarming rates."

Skokie School District 69

Administrators last month announced plans to stick with fully remote learning for "at least several weeks, and potentially longer" after school resumes on Aug. 24. The school board of the 1,749-student, three-school district is due to get the first update about adjustments on Sept. 16.

Superintendent Margaret Clausen noted there is a risk of financial liability that accompanies any in-person instruction, with several law firms issuing alerts to school districts regarding liability insurance. She said superintendents of other Niles Township High School feeder schools had been meeting regularly for months, but each district's planning depends on its individual circumstances.

"Early on the township districts determined that it would be difficult to implement the same plan," Clausen said. "Any plan depends upon enrollment of the district, average class sizes, size of buildings and individual classrooms and available financial resources."

Morton Grove School District 70

At the one-school, 960-student district, parents can opt for fully remote or in-person learning set to be gradually implemented after Labor Day. Administrators set a goal of having all students who choose on-site instruction back in the Park View School building by the end of September.

Parents and guardians who opt for in-person learning will be able to change their choice to remote learning, but not the reverse. Families who opt for remote learning must stick with it until winter break, according to the reopening plan. The in-person component of the district's plan includes a school day reduced to 8:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., all instruction in homerooms, teachers travelling from classroom to classroom and reduced class sizes.

Niles Elementary School District 71

The board of the one-school, 610-student district that operates Culver School last week approved a plan to begin the school year with remote learning through Sept. 25 and some in-person instruction beginning as early as Sept. 28. District officials anticipate parents will have to formally opt for one or the other by Sept. 11.

"We are making other preparations for the eventual phase-in to in-person learning," administrators told parents. "We hope that students will have an opportunity to meet in-person with their teachers during the week of September 21st. We do not yet know yet what the daily schedule might look like for students."

Fairview School District 72

Under a plan approved by the board of the one-school, 740-student district last week students in first through eighth grade would return to Fairview School on Aug. 27, with kindergarten students coming back on Aug. 31. A transition to fully remote learning could be needed if someone gets sick or if mandated by public health or state education officials.

"All students that return to school will attend regular school days with the usual start and end times and will have a typical school day schedule that includes all academic areas, specials classes and lunch," administrators told parents.

Students will have the option for full-time remote learning if their families provide medical documentation that it is necessary or fear the child's return to school for other reasons, agree to stick with remote learning for the first grading period, guarantee internet access to the student, and understand that most students will require adult support at home during e-learning.

East Prairie School District 73

The one-school district's 502 students will not begin in-person learning until Oct. 5 at the earliest, with a goal of making adjustments to the calendar by the middle of August, according to the district. East Prairie School administrators warned they expected to have a substantial shortage of substitute teachers available for in-person learning.

"Based on the feedback gathered from families, staff, and our community we are going to provide both an in-person and remote learning option when it is safe to do so," administrators said, promising to conduct another survey of families when unspecified conditions are met. "At that time, the district will work with families that experience any medical or other extreme hardship to ensure an appropriate educational fit."

Skokie School District 73.5

The board of the three-school, 1,120-student district approved a plan for entirely remote learning starting Aug. 31 and extending until further notice. According to a survey of staff, 63 percent said they were "very comfortable" or "somewhat comfortable" with returning to school with a hybrid model, while 37 percent said they were not comfortable.

"The Plan will be equitably based, addressing the needs of all students and providing appropriate support for those students who are disadvantaged by societal conditions," according to the resolution approving the plan presented Tuesday at a special board meeting.

In a public comment submitted to the board, a parent of two children set to attend the district's pre-kindergarten and kindergarten school asked administrators to be upfront about the fact the decision for e-learning only was made to protect teachers from potential exposure to the coronavirus.

"I would be far more sympathetic to your decision if there was at least more honesty about it," Richard Kim said. "But at any rate, given the current best data the choice to completely go remote for Elizabeth Meyer [School] is both irresponsible and unscientific. It will cause serious harm to many children as well as to working parents, especially single mothers."

Lincolnwood School District 74

Families in the three-school, 1,261-student district are set to have the option of in-person or remote learning. All students are set to receive the same curriculum to ensure continuity if students shift between remote and in-person tracks or if school buildings are forced to close due to the coronavirus, according to a draft plan from Superintendent Kimberly Nasshan dated Thursday.

"Throughout the year, the District will evaluate plans based on any changing State guidance," administrators said. "We are so excited to welcome students across campus and are committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for your child to learn and grow."

First through fourth graders will start school Aug. 25 and fifth through eighth grades start Aug. 31, with parents or guardians opting for in-person or remote learning.

Niles Township High School District 219

The District 219 school board Tuesday approved a recommendation from administrators to remain with fully remote learning for the entire first semester. Administrators said the decision was made due to the continued presence of coronavirus, the "numerous complexities and changing guidance" of bringing students and staff back to the building, and the hesitancy of families who do not want to send their children back to school.

Responses to a parent survey ran the gamut, "from those who state they will not send their child back to school in person until there is a guaranteed vaccine, to those who say they want their child back in school right away," administrators told parents Wednesday. "But even many of the parents and guardians who answered along the lines of 'back right away' then want to know how we will guarantee that their child will not be affected by some other student who doesn’t follow all the safety precautions."

Postponing an in-person option until 2021 gives administrators more time to figure out how to bring the district's more than 4,600 students back safely to its school buildings, they said.

"If conditions improve and we gain confidence about how to begin safely bringing students back into the schools during the first semester, we will do so in a careful and deliberate manner."

This article originally appeared on the Skokie Patch