‘Time is now’: Fox River Grove Elementary School District 3 to have students fully in-person in April

Fox River Grove Elementary School District 3 plans to transition to a fully in-person learning model beginning in April.

Currently, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students in District 3 have been doing a mixture of remote and in-person learning, but starting April 6, all students will be in school five days a week for the entire academic day.

A full remote option will remain available for the rest of the school year, according to a news release.

District 3′s school board unanimously approved the return to full in-person learning at a meeting Monday evening.

The “time is now for full-in-person learning,” Superintendent Tim Mahaffy said in a statement.

Four main factors contributed to the decision to go to full in-person learning, he said.

Not only do all health metric data points pointed to a safe move to the next learning model, Mahaffy said, but also, 84% of the district’s staff is set to be fully vaccinated by April 6, with more on a waitlist.

The 400-student district is able to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for low risk of transmission, he said, noting that the district has been following the science and been in constant contact with health officials, and has been using data from the CDC, Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois State Board of Education and McHenry County Department of Health in its decision-making.

In addition, Mahaffy pointed to new guidance the IDPH and ISBE put out last week which directs schools to return to in-person learning “as soon as practicable in every Illinois community.”

“This new joint ISBE/IDPH guidance has validated the measures that District 3 was planning to implement is right on course for the next learning model of full in-person learning,” Mahaffy said in the release.

However, even with more in-person learning and positive metrics, Mahaffy stressed that the district will not go back to “pre-pandemic conditions.”

During Monday’s meeting, he said the district needs to continue being vigilant to keep staff and students safe, while also taking care of the learning gaps and increased social and emotional needs that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused.

Parents will be required to complete a health certification survey each morning for each student they have, according to a copy of District 3′s in-person learning model posted on its website. Students and staff will maintain social distancing, with all classrooms allowing for at least 4 feet of spacing between seats.

About 72% of families who responded to a district survey indicated they would like to be fully in-person or would follow the district’s direction, including 47% of families who said the district should move to full in-person learning. Those who wanted to remain hybrid made up 17% of people who took the survey, while 11% said they would remain remote.