Lake Forest School District 67 Set To Stay Remote Until MLK Day

LAKE FOREST, IL — Fully remote learning began Wednesday for students in Lake Forest Elementary School District 67 and is set to continue until after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, administrators announced.

Superintendent Mike Simeck said he had initially recommended the shift to remote learning should last through the Thanksgiving holiday, but the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic in the region have since changed.

"It is the 'exponential spread' of the virus in combination with the operational challenges that increased positive cases and quarantines create in our schools that lead to extending the length of the adaptive pause," Simeck said in a message to families and staff following Tuesday evening's board meeting.

There had been a total of 22 cases of coronavirus among District 67 students and 11 cases among staff as of Wednesday, according to the district's COVID-19 dashboard. There were also five students and six staffers in quarantine at the time.

Remote learning in District 67 is scheduled to continue from Thanksgiving through the start of winter break Dec. 18, as well as from Jan. 4 until Jan. 19 — the day after MLK Day — when hybrid learning may resume, the superintendent said.

"I am hopeful that this information will allow District families and staff the opportunity to plan as well as provide a natural quarantine period that will mitigate the risk of bringing the virus into our schools following Winter Break," Simeck explained.

On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the Illinois Department of Public Health would impose newly unveiled statewide "Tier 3 mitigation measures" to slow the spread of the virus.

The new regulations, which take effect Friday, include a limit on social gatherings to members of an immediate household, as well as capacity limits and other rules for retailers, manufacturers, fitness centers, recreational activities and more. Casinos, museums and theaters were ordered shuttered.

The new restrictions do not apply to school districts, which are operating under guidance issued in August by the Illinois State Board of Education and the state public health department, which offers suggestions about school officials should implement an "adaptive pause" to in-person learning.

According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, there have been no outbreaks at schools in Lake County.

In the first week of November, the most recent data available, the county had 94 reported cases among children 5 to 11 years of age, 159 among those aged 12 to 17 and 232 among those between the ages of 18 and 22. It marked an increase of 76 new weekly school-aged cases.

Administrators in Lake Bluff School District 65 and Lake Forest Community High School District 115 have also begun adaptive pauses, which are due to extend through the end of the Thanksgiving break. District officials have said they will disclose plans for the month of December by Nov. 24 at the latest.

Simeck, superintendent of both District 67 and District 115, has established advisory councils in each district to come up with recommendations for new metrics to determine when it is safe to shift between remote, hybrid and fully in-person learning.

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