District Explores Options As Schools Can Now Reopen In Fall

PLAINFIELD, IL — In a statement Wednesday, the Plainfield School District 202 provided a glimpse of the planning process it is considering in order to have students back in school this fall.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday that after five consecutive weeks of declining coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths, the state can return to in-person learning.

"As you know, the State Board of Education yesterday released new guidance and direction for local school districts to return to school this fall. As you might expect, this guidance is very complex and will take some time to fully sort out," said Superintendent Lane Abrell.

He said he is mulling over three essential points:

• In-person learning with going back to school as the priority
• Essential safety measures must be followed, including wearing masks, washing hands, etc.
• Plans must anticipate the possibility of more remote learning if/as needed

"The good news is, District 202 administration, teachers and parents have been working on plans along these general lines since late April, so we are already moving in this direction and much of our planning is already done or in process," he said.

Guidance for K-12 Schools

The IDPH requirements for schools to reopen in Phase 4 are:

• Require use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including face coverings;
• Prohibit more than 50 individuals from gathering in one space;
• Require social distancing whenever possible;
• Conduct symptom screenings and temperature checks or require self-certification that individuals entering school buildings are symptom free; and
• Increase school wide cleaning and disinfection.

The full guidance can be seen on the ISBE website.

Abrell said that many families and staff have valid concerns about coming back to school full-time because of safety concerns, the notion of requiring students to wear masks and "other valid points involving the countless logistics involved with restarting school for our very large district."

"Likewise, other families and staff are equally opposed to the idea of returning to remote learning on a long-term basis," he said.

While Pritzker was optimistic about in-person classes resuming during his Tuesday briefing, he cautioned that schools could close again in the event of another major coronavirus outbreak.

Abrell said the district is working to bring back students and staff safely this fall. Patch reached out to the district for more details and the director for community relations, Tom Hernandez, said they have nothing else to add at this time and more details will be shared about school tentatively resuming Aug. 19.

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