Sandwich School District officials plan in-person and remote learning for new school year

Sandwich School District 430 students will attend school in person and remotely to start the 2020-21 school year, according to District 430 Curriculum Director Wally Marquardt.

Marquardt said the reopening plan will be presented to the Board of Education during a meeting tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, at Sandwich Middle School, 600 Wells St., Sandwich

According to the plan, students will be divided alphabetically into groups, with one group attending school in-person Mondays and Wednesdays, the second group attending school Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays will be reserved for remote learning across the district.

Attendance groups also will take into account multiple students who live in the same household and may have different last names, allowing them to attend school on the same schedule.

"Because of the sheer numbers and social distancing requirements, we cannot have everybody come back to school all at once," Marquardt said. "You have to split that group up."

District officials have been working on the return-to-learn plan all summer, he said, adding "It's just really hard to get a handle on it because things are changing, as well."

The district's plan, Marquardt said, discourages the use of lockers, because of the inability to socially distance. In-school days will be shortened, ending at about 1:30 p.m., with lessons continuing at home.

Lunches will be provided to students to take home, and breakfast will continue to be provided at schools, he added.

"You can just imagine everything you have to try to think of and cover."

Marquardt also addressed rumors from the previous week, that Gov. JB Pritzker would require all school districts to implement remote learning. That did not happen, but he said anything could happen between today and Sandwich's first in-person day, Aug. 20.

"We're just trying to prepare," he said. "We've met and we have curriculum."

Students will be graded on assignments, he said, as the policy restricting academic performance from harming students' grades during the spring 2020 shutdown has ended.

"We have to have attendance, grades, we have to have assessments. We've got a curriculum in place that we plan on using for K-2, and for 3-12," he said. "We're just doing our best to prepare along with every other school in the state and country, really, to be able to respond to whatever we're asked to respond to."

"All of these things are just a catastrophe," Marquardt said, "We're trying to deal with them."

The district's plan for the upcoming school year is set to be discussed at the July 21 meeting of the Board of Education, at Sandwich Middle School, 600 Wells St., Sandwich.