Dear District 99 Community:
As we previously announced, work is underway to adjust our second semester schedule based on recent feedback from students, staff and families. It has always been our goal to have students at school in-person for as much as it is safe to do so. Our new plan reflects this goal and is based on feedback from the last round of surveys along with what we have learned over the first semester. We will present the full plan to the Board of Education for discussion and a decision at its meeting on December 14.
The plan that we are developing has us returning in-person to start the second semester in a hybrid model with a significant increase in the amount of in-person learning opportunities. We will also eliminate the scheduled “remote only” weeks in the second semester. In addition, we are reevaluating the metrics and factors we use to determine when in-person learning can safely occur based on information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicators (click here) and our experience from the first semester. (Our plans could continue to be modified based on changing health guidelines, such as the recent change regarding when to quarantine.)
Details of the plan and schedule for next semester will be shared with you next week, in advance of the December 14 Board of Education meeting where this topic will be discussed.
There is also a Board workshop on December 7; they will not discuss or decide plans for the second semester as this meeting is dedicated to a Board Self Evaluation with the Illinois Association of School Boards in closed session.
In both meetings, the open session will be livestreamed at www.youtube.com/csd99media. Comments may be submitted at https://bit.ly/D99-BOE-Public-Comments; this form is live at 8 a.m. on the day of Board meetings. All comments made will be part of the official Board minutes.
We will provide more information about the December 14 meeting next week, including opportunities for public comment. The number of people able to attend in person will be dependent on the mitigations in place at that time.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to return to in-person learning.
Thank you,
District 99