District 41 Staff Questionnaire
Reopening School Plan - July 2020
Dear District 41 Staff,
Please note that you are receiving the information that is being provided to parents today in a Parent Questionnaire. In addition, you will find information in this communication that is specific to staff.
Thank you for your patience over the past several weeks as we work through the Restore Illinois Plan and the Illinois State Board of Education guidance document. This has been a monumental task for school districts in Illinois and nationally. Please note that The Board of Education has not formally approved this plan but it is imperative that we begin getting feedback from families in order for our planning to move forward. *This questionnaire is considered non-binding. We want to get your initial thoughts on next year. As more information gets communicated over the next few weeks, we will plan to do a second questionnaire that will be considered binding. It will be necessary to do so, so that we can accomplish everything that needs to be done prior to the start of school.
Please respond to this questionnaire by 4 p.m. Friday, July 10.
Our plan is anchored in the following priorities:
The safety of students and staff
Aggressive mitigation to decrease the frequency of instances where we will
be required to move to full remote instruction
In-person learning 5 days per week for all students who are able
A commitment to shift into full in-person instruction when it is deemed safe to do so.
Please make sure to read through the various summary key points before responding to the questions below.
Now that the ISBE guidance document has been provided, there are components that are required for all public school districts in Illinois. Masks are required for all students and staff who are attending in person instruction and social distancing of 6 feet to the greatest extent possible. Governor Pritzker shared that the State of Illinois will be providing a cloth mask for every student in Illinois. We do not have any additional information about this yet. Parents/Guardians will be expected to provide a cloth mask for their child/children on a daily basis if they are participating in in-person instruction. District 41 will maintain an inventory of disposable masks in the event that your child’s mask becomes unwearable during the day. Children will be required to have a mask on prior to boarding the school bus.
Because of the fluid nature of the pandemic, there may be additional circumstances under which a parent would request a fully remote learning opportunity that have not been identified above.
As of this time and as long as we continue to be in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan, the model that will enable us to comply with both the health and safety requirements and daily deliver in-person learning is a blended model of instruction. While the Board of Education has not officially adopted a model for the 2020-2021 school year, we are providing some key points regarding a blended model so that you can best respond to this questionnaire. It is important to note that we will need to be ready to implement a full remote model in the event that we move backwards in the Restore Illinois Phases and/or if classrooms, schools or the entire district get placed on full remote learning due to an increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19.
A blended model of instruction includes a half day of in-person learning and a half day of remote learning or what is referred to as an AM/PM model, 5 days per week, where 50% of our students attend in the AM and 50% in the PM.
AM Session will be 8:30-11:00 AM and PM will be 1:00-3:30PM. 11:00-1:00 will be staff lunch, plan, PLC and for mid-day sanitizing and cleaning.
Students would eat lunch at home. Students who qualify for Free/Reduced lunch would be provided with a bag lunch daily. AM students would take a bag lunch home with them after the AM session. PM students would take a bag lunch home with them after the PM session which is their lunch for the following day. We will work with our food service vendor to determine whether they have the capability to make bag lunches available for purchase. More information will be forthcoming.
A priority will be put on core instruction (ELA, Math, Science, SEL, FLES/ESL) during in-person instruction while specials will occur through remote learning. IEPs and Section 504 Plans will be implemented in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. There will be slight variations between the grade levels and between elementary and Hadley. More detailed information will be shared as our planning progresses. Until we analyze the information from this questionnaire and move forward in our planning process, we cannot provide information regarding AM/PM assignments.
Classroom arrangements will include 6 feet of social distancing between students. *This means that if there is a confirmed case in a classroom, the entire classroom would not need to be put on a 14 day quarantine because they maintained 6 feet of social distance and were wearing masks. This has been confirmed with the DuPage County Health Department as of 6/29/20
Ventilation/HVAC will be adjusted based on health/medical recommendations
Cleaning and sanitizing will meet the health/medical requirements
Students will not share “community supplies”. Individual storage areas/kits will be created and maintained along with individual student manipulative kits
Remote learning will have a much greater degree of consistency with a unified platform (Google Classroom) and expectations related to what the virtual instruction will look like as well as the engagement with students. Remote learning will be online and taught synchronously/ live.
The first day of student attendance will be Friday, August 21st. You will receive more detailed information in a separate communication however, we anticipate that this day will focus on establishing relationships as well as reviewing and practicing new routines and expectations. Our priority for this day will be to make our students feel welcome, safe and comfortable being back in the classroom under some new/different circumstances.
We will have 2 days of Remote Learning Planning on Wednesday and Thursday, August 19 and August 20.
We have not yet determined what our process will be for temperature and symptom checking prior to coming to school each day. We have the ability to use a self certification process but are still investigating options.
Parents of students with Section 504 Plans and/or IEPs will receive additional information directly from Director of Student Services, Laurel O’Brien. Please respond to this questionnaire as best as possible but know that you will be receiving additional information. *Remember, this is non-binding.
Parents of students in the Early Childhood Program will receive additional information directly from Dr. Katie McCluskey, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching, Learning and Accountability. Please do NOT respond to this questionnaire for your incoming EC student. We will have to communicate directly with EC families after we receive program requirements from the PreSchool for All consultants. Because this is a grant funded program, we will be required to comply with their specific requirements.
Information that is specific to staff:
Only those people who have a documented need to continue working remotely from home and who provide certification documentation to substantiate the need for the leave will be considered. The HR Department will certify the request and provide necessary documentation.
Staff to support the remote learning portion of the day will be required to do so from the school building and be physically present.
Laurel will work with special education staff to discuss PPE needs related to specific student needs.
Katie will work with EC staff related to any specific requirements connected to the PreSchool For All Grant.
We have not yet determined what our process will be for temperature and symptom checking prior to coming to work each day. We have the ability to use a self certification process but are still investigating options.
*Please note that your responses to the questions will be kept confidential and they are non-binding at this point. Human Resources will be following up with you directly as needed. We know you will have many questions as we get closer to opening school, we plan to send out a Q & A document after the reopening plan has been presented.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS SEND TO: Questions2020@d41.org
Important Resources:
- Updated ISBE guidance on face shields
- Illinois Child Care Assistance Program
Staff Questionnaire
You can complete the questionnaire below or by CLICKING HERE. Thank you for your collaboration. We will use the data to continue our planning for the 2020-2021 school year.