Huntley School District 158 to utilize a hybrid learning model for the remainder of the school year

HUNTLEY – The Board of Education held a special meeting on January 11 to discuss in detail how District 158 would move forward in regards to offering parents of students the choice between a hybrid style of learning or remaining in the remote model.

While public comments from some parents criticized the Board for not transitioning to a full in-person return, ultimately the Board stuck to its decision and addressed their reasoning behind a hybrid learning model.

“Our current considerations, in addition to recognizing the community transition levels, continue to be too high for an all-out full return. The guidance that we have, we are not meeting all four areas of the health metrics that we were previously using. But, with the addition of the mitigations, our confidence level about re-entering the building with a hybrid group of students is increasing,” said Superintendent Dr. Scott Rowe.

He continued on by stating, “We want to continue our pathway that we follow, making progress towards our goal, which is a full return of our students and we must do so responsibly and with proven action. So, given this full context, a return to hybrid is appropriate at this time, but under a model that enables our fidelity to meet these mitigation strategies.”

With just over 75% of families in the district choosing the in-person route for their children, the hybrid model would allow for schools to follow mitigation strategies such as social distancing, at a much more efficient capacity.

Hybrid classes for early childhood education began Jan 19. The target return date for all other grade levels to commence the hybrid implementation is slated for Jan 25.

Rowe mentioned that he understood other districts were returning students to school at much earlier dates, however because District 158 had to accommodate changes to the elementary school level for transportation purposes, Jan 25 was the earliest date the district was able to implement welcoming their students back.

Elementary school students in the hybrid model will be assigned to either Group A or B. Group A students will attend a half day of class in the mornings, five days a week, while Group B will do the same, only in the afternoons.

Students at the middle and high school levels who elected hybrid learning, will also follow an A/B model where the only differences are: students placed in Group A will attend full day in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays and students in Group B will do the same only on Thursdays and Fridays. All students will be in remote learning on Wednesdays.

When students are not attending in-person learning, they will be completing asynchronous learning, meaning work they are able to do on their own time, according to Rowe.

Among the toughest of changes came for students who elected to remain in remote learning especially those at the elementary level who were notified by the district that they would no longer have the same teacher, instead remote elementary school students would be assigned to a new teacher dedicated to the remote model.

Rowe explained that this was done in order to ensure that remote students had a full day of uninterrupted learning with a teacher that could focus on their needs and not be impacted by the hybrid learning schedule.

There were protests from some parents claiming that the teachers selected to teach remote students were not adequate educators.

However, Rowe reassured parents that the candidate pool of teachers selected for the remote model, were some of the best teachers the district had to offer.

“Some of the [virtual] teachers have been out of the classroom for less than two years. The majority of them, however, have not been out of the classroom for all that long and are in leadership roles and are certified educators and have experience teaching the grade level in which they’re going back to teach. Some have been out of the classroom for a while, but only because of leadership roles and serving as support for in-person teachers, but [they] should not be taken as unqualified,” Rowe said.

He elaborated his sentiment at an earlier Board of Education meeting on Dec 17, stating, “It’s hard for them to leave these roles because they’re so fulfilled by supporting their colleagues, but they’re excellent teachers, excellent. So, our families that are in a remote environment, I expect us to find these families will struggle with the transition because it’s not easy, but then in the end I expect that the vast majority of them are going to say, ‘I got two great teachers’.”

Parents of remote students can expect a transition period the first week that they are placed with their new teacher, which will focus on relationship building.

The newest of changes students returning to school in the hybrid model will see, is the daily health screening certification parents of students must complete prior to the student’s arrival to the school building.

Without a certification, students will be referred to a symptom screening with one of the school nurses or other school professional.

The district is maintaining a firm stance regarding their mask requirements. When students are in-person learning, they are required to wear a two-layer cloth mask that fits snugly to cover both the nose and mouth. Disposable masks will be available to students, but they are expected to bring their own.

A student not adhering to the district’s mask requirements will first be issued a written referral by a teacher that will be on file with the school’s Dean. A second warning will result in a student having a one-on-one meeting with the Dean as well as having communication with the parents, reminding them of the school’s mask requirements. A third offense will result in the student being shifted to remote learning for a period of time.

“A lot of that will have to do with interaction. How that student chooses to handle that information and upon the student returning to in-person learning. If that student has an issue of a fourth time, then that student can finish the semester in remote learning. We’re taking it very serious, especially at the secondary level,” Rowe said.

Of course, there was the question of what would happen if a student were to contract COVID-19 while doing in-person learning. Rowe was direct in stating that he has no doubt that there will be cases of COVID-19 brought into the district, but is hopeful with the mitigation efforts put in place, that those cases will be few and far between.

Rowe urged parents of students exhibiting symptoms to take responsibility and not send their children to school, but understands that the possibility of sick children entering school buildings exists, which is why the district has prepared isolation rooms in each school’s nurses’ office as well as are working with the health department to have rapid COVID-19 testing on hand.

Otherwise, students that are forced into quarantine will simply be allowed to Zoom into the live instruction classrooms with the teachers being allowed to decide how they may want to distribute work to the isolated student.

“The important thing is, we will do everything we can to work with our families and I think that’s what sets District 158 apart from many other school districts. If we’re anything, we’re accommodating. As accommodating as we can be. Every family matters. Every family here gets a voice,” Rowe stated.