D158 changes course for remote learning offerings in accordance with ISBE guideline updates
HUNTLEY – Shortly before Illinois shifted into Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) issued a resolution to their guidelines on May 19, calling for all students to resume full in-person learning starting the next school year.
District 158 (D158) superintendent Scott Rowe, explained to the Board of Education (BOE) at the June 3 Committee of the Whole meeting that due to ISBE’s resolution, the district is forced to change their approach in how they will offer online learning for students that qualify for it.
Students who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and are under a quarantine order by a local public health department can continue to learn remotely, according to Rowe. However, the format in which remote instruction will be offered at D158, has undergone some changes.
Only 2.4% of D158 families chose to opt into remote instruction. Though, Rowe explained that the district plans to now use home/hospital services, which is a service provided to students when a licensed medical professional determines that a student will be absent from school for a minimum of 10 days due to a medical condition.
“[Families will] need to submit completed medical certification using the Illinois State Board of Education home hospital form, which we currently use for our students that access that now, indicating what the student’s diagnosis is. Certification from a licensed physician that a student is unable to attend school and is medically eligible to receive this service, and an estimated length of time that that practitioner believes that they should not be able to access school,” Rowe said regarding what is needed to be eligible for the home/hospital remote learning services.
Students must then continue to provide physician approval every six weeks.
For those in early childhood education up to fifth grade, Rowe stated that remote learning would involve a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction taught by a D158 teacher. Kindergarten to fifth grade would have a minimum of two hours of live instruction and early childhood education would have 45 minutes of live instruction.
“Then students obviously can request to return back at any point. So, the student will be rostered kind of blindly in a teacher’s classroom with the intention of when they want to return, they already know which class they’re going to return to,” Rowe said.
“If you’re a Chesak student, you’re going to be assigned to a Chesak teacher’s classroom day one. That teacher will not have interaction with that student. The remote assigned teacher will be the one interacting, but when that child, that family is able to return, they’ll jump in and say goodbye to remote, and jump into their assigned classroom regardless of where they are.”
For middle and high school students that qualify for remote learning, Rowe explained that students would be taking Huntley High School built online courses that will be rolling out this fall, with a combination of courses from a third-party remote learning platform.
“We’ll have a designated teacher that will oversee the entire six through 12 group, because that person has to add them to rosters in those online courses as they’re ready to progress along. As well as some check-ins and some supports just to ensure at all levels, to ensure that when they’re ready to transition back, those social emotional supports are there. That way they don’t feel isolated while they’re at home,” Rowe said.
Secondary level students will also be able to return to in-person instruction at any time. Rowe stated that the district will assign a “ghost schedule” to students behind the scenes, but there might be some challenges in helping returning students catch up to the in-person instruction.
Rowe expects the number of families interested in remote learning to drop dramatically, given that the district can no longer offer what they had originally presented as remote learning options.
For any families that do continue to pursue a remote option, the district will be reaching out via written communication with further steps, as well as will be available to speak to families via phone to walk them through what the new process will entail.
As an added note, Rowe told board members that D158 is still waiting on additional updates from IDPH and ISBE regarding the mask mandates.
“We no longer have to be six feet away when [students are] eating in the cafeteria which is an important [update]. As well as bus capacity. They have not given us indication on that. They have not indicated whether wearing of masks is going to be a requirement, currently it is. We haven’t received any of that update,” Rowe said.
Rowe did ensure to the BOE that even when the mask mandate is lifted in schools, D158 will support students and staff who continue to want to wear a mask.
D158 is not mandating COVID-19 vaccines for either students or staff.
