Elmhurst District 205 students to return to hybrid learning in January; vote on testing program delayed

ELMHURST – Students in Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 will return to hybrid learning in January, the school board decided Dec. 15.

The board also agreed to an adjustment to middle school scheduling and no snack breaks on inclement weather days.

The board tabled a vote on a saliva-based COVID-19 testing program to next month’s meeting.

District students, who have been in fully remote learning since mid-October, will return to school for the second semester Jan. 11. The schedule sets Jan. 6 as a professional development day for teachers, with remote learning for students on Jan. 7 and 8.

“That would give us 10 days after the New Year’s Day holiday before people physically returned to campus,” Superintendent David Moyer said. “We think that would allow for any kind of holiday surge to reverse itself before any people would start congregating in buildings.”

Moyer provided an update on the district’s COVID-19 dashboard – DuPage County was at 12.5% test positivity and weekly cases per 100,000 population were at 581 as of Dec. 4, both substantial community transmission levels.

District 205 estimated the numbers as of Dec. 14 to have trended down – a 7.7% test positivity rate and 386 weekly cases per 100,000 – according to the Northwestern University dashboard.

The district at its November meeting adopted local metrics and 12 additional considerations to create more flexibility in its decision-making process.

“While [the numbers are] not at our comfort level, it is trending in the right direction, which is good news,” Moyer said.

In a district survey, 366 families who were in remote learning this fall indicated an interest in returning to in-person learning at school for the second semester. That would bring the number of students in school to about 85% districtwide, with some schools as high as 95% or 96%.

The increased in-person attendance creates challenges in scheduling and social distancing, particularly with space constraints at Bryan and Sandburg middle schools. The district will divide Bryan and Sandburg students into three groupings in an A-B-C schedule, which will have students in school five out of every 15 school days instead of six in the A-B schedule.

Scott Grens, assistant superintendent for innovation and technology, said he analyzed each learning space in each middle school building to identify possible alternative classroom meeting locations, tried to move students into different schedules and designed 13-plus schedule considerations for January to March at the middle school level.

Several board members expressed concern with the A-B-C grouping before approving it.

“I wish it wasn’t A-B-C, but I feel like it’s a step,” board President Kara Caforio said. “I feel like it’s a logical stepping stone to reopening. I realize it’s not perfect, but I feel like it’s a step in the right direction.”

“I support the schedule as a temporary measure, and I will renew a push for accelerating that beyond what we’re seeing tonight when we meet again next year,” board member Chris Kocinski said.

While the board voted unanimously on the return to hybrid learning, one member expressed his frustration with the district’s approach on decisions to reopen schools.

“I have to express my frustration,” board member Jim Collins said. “Our interpretation of medical acts always seems to err on the most conservative side.

“It’s interesting that when I read letters from parents, every single one of them who has identified themselves as a physician is saying to get our kids in the classroom. We haven’t heard from any physicians in the community who say, ‘Please keep our kids out of the classroom. It’s just too dangerous.’”

Moyer at previous meetings had introduced the prospect of starting a saliva-based screening program used by La Grange District 102 and La Grange School District 105, New Trier High School and most recently Glen Ellyn School District 41 as a way to maintain the continuity of the district’s learning model, prevent outbreaks and minimize asymptomatic transmission.

At the Dec. 15 meeting, Moyer recommended to table the vote on testing as the district has not yet received results from a participation survey, and additional funding possibilities and more information on the prospects of a vaccine could be known soon.

“We all agree that we want to try to find a way creatively to get as many kids in school as frequently as possible,” Moyer said. “I think we all feel that the vaccinations gives us a lot of hope that we could get kids back in school more frequently. I know everybody wants kids in school every day. I don’t want to make promises that I can’t support but we are getting closer.”