New Coronavirus Cases In VVSD Schools Continue To Increase

BOLINGBROOK, IL — More students and staff members tested positive for the coronavirus last week than they did the week before in Valley View School District, according to the latest numbers.

As of Tuesday, 77 staff members and 52 students have tested positive since the beginning of the school year. The new cases last week numbered 17 for the employees, compared to 11 employees who tested positive the week before, according to the district. Twenty students tested positive last week whereas the week before, the number was six.

The highest number of students since the beginning of the school year tested positive for the virus on Oct. 23, and the highest number of staff members reported positive cases on Oct. 26.

"On average, we are currently seeing 1-2 current positive staff cases per building or department that have been due to outside exposure," said Superintendent Rachel Kinder in a release Friday. "Our Administrators and Nurses are working very hard and taking the appropriate measures to isolate, contact trace, and notify direct contacts. Because of their efforts and the efforts of staff in implementing safety precautions, staff transmission inside the District only includes one suspected case."

She said that while most students remain in full remote learning, families have reported positive student cases for children at home.

"News of any positive cases can be very unsettling, but the fact is that COVID-19 will be a part of our reality for quite some time," Kinder said. "With vigilance and a collective responsibility in order to mitigate risk, we can move cautiously forward, even if at some point in the future, we have to use the strategy of 'adaptive pause' in our plans for having students or staff on site."

This comes after VVSD announced a two-week delay in its transition to hybrid learning. The Board of Education had unanimously approved the third stage of the Return Together 365U plan, which would see a phased return of students to classrooms over the coming weeks and will result in a hybrid learning model of both in-school and remote instruction for most students.

Early childhood students were supposed to begin going to school on Nov.2, Monday-Thursday, with Fridays reserved for asynchronous independent learning. Elementary students were also going to begin the same day and have in-person days assigned to them on the basis of their last names, according to the approved plan.

But now, transition to hybrid learning on-site will take place on Nov. 16. Early childhood students are now scheduled to return to four-day per week on site learning the week of Nov. 16 as well.