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Johnsburg School District 12 now will begin the school year with full remote learning, Superintendent Dan Johnson announced Monday in a letter to parents, guardians and staff.
District 12 originally had planned to reopen with hybrid learning, in which students pre-K through 12th grade would be split into "A" and "B" groups and go to school for in-person instruction for two days a week and stay at home for remote learning for two days a week. After the first three weeks of school, the district had said it would reevaluate and determine any necessary changes.
Now, all students will begin the school year Aug. 25 with full remote learning.
New guidance for reopening from the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health was among the reasons listed by the district for the switch, according to Johnson’s letter.
A rising rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases in McHenry County also was listed by the district. According to the IDPH's, the county has seen an increase in cases over the past four weeks.
“We know that these agencies are doing their best with continually changing information, but it has simply become clear that there is too much unknown about this highly contagious, deadly virus to have full confidence to reopen,” Johnson said.
Johnson also said because COVID-19 symptoms are common, the district anticipated a significant number of individuals being sent home or denied entry to schools, excluding them from in-person learning.
Students or staff with any of the following COVID-19 symptoms are instructed to stay home: cough; fatigue; fever or chills; headache; measured temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or greater; nausea or vomiting; new loss of taste or smell; shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; and sore throat. Those who had close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 also are to stay home.
Over the past few weeks, many local school districts have announced or re-announced their plans as being entirely remote learning. McHenry Elementary School District 15 reversed course and will do remote learning through Nov. 6. Harvard School District 50 will do remote learning for the first semester after multiple staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Huntley School District 158 changed to remote learning through at least Oct. 16. Prairie Grove School District 46 will do remote learning for the first six weeks of school. McHenry High School District 156 said Monday it will begin the school year with remote learning.
Riley School District 18 in Marengo announced Monday that it will continue with its plans for in-person instruction to start the school year for its 291 students in kindergarten through the eighth grade.
"After much deliberation with the local health department, other area school districts and our district planning committees regarding these new guidelines, we have made the difficult decision not to start the school year as we had planned and hoped for," Johnson said. "We will continually reassess the conditions associated with this pandemic and see when we may reopen partially or fully in the future."
District 12 has set up an email address, covid@johnsburg12.org, for families to use for any questions or concerns about the district’s reopening plan. More information from the district and schools about the transition to remote learning will be forthcoming, according to Johnson's letter.
“Please know that this decision was not made lightly,” Johnson said. “Every stone has been overturned during this process, as our planning committees evaluated several different scenarios. Unfortunately, even the changes being considered would have been insufficient to bring us to an acceptable level of compliance with health guidelines.”