Plano District 88 Board of Education approves reopening plan with hybrid, remote options

PLANO – The Plano School District 88 Board of Education unanimously approved its return to learn school reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The school board voted, 7-0, to implement the district's return to learn school reopening plan during the board's special Monday, Aug. 3 meeting. All board members were physically present for the meeting, wearing face coverings and sitting in spaced-out desks within the Plano High School auditorium.

The plan gives parents and guardians the choice of either a hybrid of in-person and remote learning, or a full remote learning experience for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

Tracy Thurwanger, assistant superintendent for the district, said students who elect to take the hybrid learning option will be split into A and B groups. District officials confirmed the A students would attend school in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays and B students would be on site on Wednesdays and Fridays.

"So the days those students are not in attendance, they would actually have the ability to get on ... with their teachers remotely as well," Thurwanger said.

Thurwanger said the Illinois State Board of Education is requesting school districts to provide five hours of instruction per day for students. Per more recent state recommendations that came after the school board's previous meeting, she said, ISBE also is requesting that two and a half hours of synchronous learning, or students engage in scheduled learning at the same time.

Thurwanger said the two and a half hour synchronous learning window would apply for remote students, as well as on-site students, and those "Virtual Academy" students would be required to log on for that timeframe.

"So it provides a little more structure for them at a specific time during the day," Thurwanger said.

The update comes after district officials previously discussed the plan during the school board's July 20 meeting.

Veronica Uhrich, a Plano resident and parent to a middle schooler and a high schooler, said she wanted to attend the Monday meeting to keep herself informed about the changes that are coming for the fall. As someone who works in the healthcare field, she said, she knows the district is going to try their best with the limited information about the virus they have and in following state health and education guidelines.

"It's unprecedented, so it's going to be hard to know what's going to happen," Uhrich said.

Dr. Sylvia Trevino, a pediatrician who practices in Plano, said one of her general concerns in students returning to school in some form is whether that would mean an entire class would need to get tested for COVID-19 and what that means for testing capacity within her Plano office. She said she wanted to attend the meeting so she could better answer questions for families, including what warrants quarantining for students and at what point the school district would permit students to come back to school.

"I konw that, minute by minute, everything is changing," Trevino said. "I just want to get that clarification for them."

District 88 Superintendent Tony Baker said all students, regardless if they are within the hybrid learning group or the e-learning group, will be remote on Mondays. He said the hybrid students will be split into the A and B groups by address and that information will be released on Aug. 10.

Per the choices that families submitted by July 31, Baker said only one percent – or 40 – of the district's families pulled their students out of the district for the next school year and opted for homeschooling. About 25% – or 600 – students wanted the full remote option and the rest of the students – 74%, or 1,708 students – will take part in the hybrid learning.

Nearly half of surveyed families in all grade levels wanted to have fall learning occur through a hybrid model involving both in-person and online learning, according to Plano School District 88 parent survey responses. About 51% out of 355 surveyed district staff members wanted to have fall learning occur through a hybrid model involving both in-person and online learning, according to Plano School District 88 staff survey responses.

Tim Campbell, president of the school board, said the board appreciates the effort from district administration and staff in being able to put together a plan that touches on all aspects in keeping children safe, while also acknowledging the importance of face-to-face instruction for students. He said the process in creating the plan that abides by ever-changing guidelines has been like shooting at a moving target and district officials have taken the process very seriously.

"And [staff members and administrators] are making every decision for the best interest of our students," Campbell said.