ADMINISTRATION
BETHANY A. LINDSAY Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION
DOREEN DAVIS President
TIFFANY GRAHAM Vice President
MARY TAYLOR Secretary
ERICA BRNFRE
JOHN DIXON
VALENCIA LYNCH
QUENTIN WRIGHT
August 6, 2021
Dear Families:
I hope this message finds you well and enjoying the summer with your family. It is hard to believe that we are just a few weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 school year. Full in-person learning will resume on Friday, August 27th. Please know we are doing everything in our power to return students to school safely while getting back as close to normal as possible.
On August 4, Governor Pritzer mandated masks in all school buildings for students, staff, and visitors. Our current Reopening Plan includes universal masking for students and staff until the mandate/guidance is modified. Additionally, on August 5, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released new guidance for schools regarding COVID-19. It emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together consistently) to protect people who are not fully vaccinated, including students, staff, and other members of their households. CDC Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html
CDC Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools was updated on August 5, 2021
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html The CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.
Key Takeaways
• Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority.
• Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.
• Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
• In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as screening testing.
• Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
• Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.
• Many schools serve children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together consistently) to protect students, teachers, staff, visitors, and other members of their households and support in-person learning.
• Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies (e.g., physical distancing, screening testing).
Summary of Recent Changes
• Updated to recommend universal indoor masking for all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
• Added recommendation for fully vaccinated people who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, regardless of whether they have symptoms.
Remote Learning
Per a resolution by the Illinois State Board of Education, remote instruction must be made available only to students who are not currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine AND are under a quarantine order by a local public health department or the Illinois Department of Public Health. "Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, all schools must resume fully in-person learning for all student attendance days, provided that, pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/10-30 and 105 ILCS 5/34-18.66, remote instruction be made available for students who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine or who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, only while they are under quarantine consistent with guidance or requirements from a local public health department or the Illinois Department of Public Health."
Please take a moment to review our 2021-22 Reopening Plan. Our primary goal for the upcoming school year is to safely remain fully open without interruption to teaching and learning while supporting a community of students, staff, parents, and community partners after 18 months of tremendous challenges and incredible stress.
Please keep an eye out for additional communication from your school principals over the next few weeks. They will provide school-specific details regarding school programs and family activities, school events/clubs, and after school activities.
I hope you enjoy the next few weeks of summer weather with friends and family. I look forward to seeing you at our Back to School Bash at Hickory Bend on August 20th from 1 – 4 PM. There will be fun games and activities for our students along with refreshments.
We are excited to welcome our students back to school on Friday, August 27th!
Sincerely,
Bethany A. Lindsay Superintendent