Yorkville School District officials: control measures working to limit COVID-19 spread

The Yorkville School District 115 has had 27 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its student body and staff since the start of the school year, officials revealed at a school board meeting Monday night, Oct. 26.

With the end of the district's first academic quarter last Friday, the announcement comes after nine weeks of class where approximately 4,300 students physically attended school either in full or part-time.

"The information is clear: we're not really having community spread within school," said School Board Vice President Dr. Robert Brenart. "We're still able to maintain our in-person learning."

Yet officials recorded 19 of the 27 virus cases, 70 percent, in October alone - lining up with creeping case counts in Kendall County and across Illinois.

"We have definitely seen an increase in positive COVID individuals, which correlates with the current numbers and statistics within Kendall County," Director of Student Services Melinda Lasky told the board.

The positive cases across Y115 have also led to 247 staff members and 48 percent of hybrid and on-site learning students needing to isolate after potential exposure, in accordance to health guidelines. Officials did not have readily available a breakdown of the new data across Y115's 10 different schools.

District Superintendent Tim Shimp hailed the announcement as a "collective effort" by students and staff "to be mindful of the health and safety of people."

A politically-charged debate over school openings erupted throughout the United States earlier this year, with Trump Administration officials pushing public schools to reopen despite health concerns. Though children and young people age 1-24 account for a small percent of official COVID-19 deaths (.22 percent per the CDC), questions remain over the effect in-person classes have on the health of teachers and local communities writ large.

Though officials expected positive cases to rise across the district this fall, board member Jason Senffner called the current case totals "a huge gain for our district," adding that other school districts wanted to reach out to learn about Y115's experience.

"I think it's been amazing that we've been able to get these kids into school for the first quarter," Senffner said. "There's a lot to be said for that."

Despite a relatively smooth first academic quarter, 85 percent of Y115 families have decided to keep their students in their current learning models. The district currently offers families the choice of full in-person learning, a hybrid model and total e-learning. While Y115 gave families the opportunity to change their student's preferred model for the beginning of the second academic quarter, only 15 percent of families wanted to change their learning model. Of those families, 95 percent wanted to shift from e-learning to full-time in-person classes.

Though "each case is unique... the community - by and large - likes their choice," said Dr. Nick Baughman, the district's associate superintendent for learning and instruction.

As for the future of in-person learning at Y115, Superintendent Shimp emphasized that the district continues to monitor different health metrics - adding that the district has a meeting with the Kendall County Health Department this Friday, Oct. 30. However, with cases increasing across the state, final authority over the status of Illinois schools lies with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the state board of education.