Board of Education
An update from Barrington 220: July 15, 2020
Barrington 220 presents its Roadmap to Reopening
At the July 14 Board meeting, Dr. Harris presented the framework for the district’s Roadmap to Reopening for the 2020-21 school year. The district prepared educational plans and operational protocols based on guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the state's five-phase reopening plan, Restore Illinois.
As long as Illinois remains in Phase 4, families will have TWO OPTIONS to choose from for the start of the 2020-21 school year. Families who have multiple students enrolled in the district can choose a different option for each child. The first day of school for grades 1-12 is Thursday, August 20. The first day of school for Pre-K and kindergarten is Monday, August 24.
IN-PERSON LEARNING: Students will attend school with all proper health protocols and procedures in place.
DISTANCE LEARNING: Students will engage in all Distance Learning from the beginning of the 2020-21 school year until Winter Break. This option will include more rigorous guidelines, based on feedback from Distance Learning in Spring 2020. Families will be allowed to change to in-person learning after Winter Break (January 7, 2021). Please note, if an elementary student opts out of in-person learning, the student’s Distance Learning teacher may not be a teacher at that student’s home school. If a middle school student opts out of in-person learning, the student’s Distance Learning teachers may be based out of Barrington Middle School Prairie or Station campuses.
Families who wish to select the Distance Learning option must complete a survey in Infinite Campus, which will be emailed out to all families today at 9:00 AM. Families who wish to do in-person learning, but do not wish to use district-provided bus transportation through Winter Break will also have to complete the survey. Families who plan to return to in-person learning and use district-provided bus transportation this fall DO NOT need to complete the survey.
The deadline to opt out of in-person learning and district provided transportation is Friday, July 24, 2020 at 11:59pm.
Referendum design meetings happening this summer
Over the past few weeks Barrington 220's Referendum Construction Steering Committee has been working on the DESIGN phase of construction. This phase is the first of three construction phases, which are anticipated to span four years (2020-2024).
Design: time needed to review concepts, produce construction documents, and receive authorization from the Board to release for bidding
Bid: time needed for prospective bidders to get drawings, estimate and submit bids for the design, and the construction team to analyze and formulate recommendations for Board approval
Build: time needed to award contracts, purchase materials, construct, and once completed, turn over the facility to the school district to occupy.
The district intends to begin construction at BMS-Prairie, BMS-Station and Grove Avenue Elementary, in order to prioritize safety and security at those buildings, which includes the elimination of the mobile classrooms. In early August the Referendum Construction Steering Committee will meet with a group of middle school parents to get their feedback about what classroom additions at the middle schools should look like. The committee plans to present a schematic design at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting on August 11.
Board hears update on preliminary FY21 budget
Board to interview superintendent search firms
At its July 14 meeting, the Board announced it plans to interview three search firms which specialize in school district superintendent searches. The Board hopes to conduct the interviews over the next few weeks, in order to approve a search firm at its next regularly scheduled meeting on August 11.
Last month the Board of Education shared that after more than 30 years in public education, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Harris will retire at the end of his contract on June 30, 2021. Dr. Harris has served as the Barrington 220 Superintendent of Schools for the past six years.
D220 to hire Director of Equity, Race and Cultural Diversity Initiatives
District Administrative Center
Website: www.barrington220.org
Location: 515 West Main Street, Barrington, IL 60010
Phone: 847.381.6300
Facebook: facebook.com/barrington220/
Twitter: @barrington220