
Safety & Stability is our Priority
D41 Continues with In-Person Learning
Dear District 41 Community,
We have had a successful return to in-person learning and launch of our remote learning for our preschool, kindergarten,1st and 2nd graders. Thank you to our families and staff for making these transitions possible both in the blended model and the remote model.
As we reported last Friday, DuPage County is now in the red/substantial status for community transmissions. The DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) released a press release with guidance for schools related to the status of the county. I understand that this press release and news coverage over the past 24 hours caused a lot of confusion and concern in the community. Many are thinking that if we are in the red status that we would be moving everyone back to a full remote model. This is not the case. On the second page of the press release, the DCHD writes:
“While remote learning is recommended, school officials are encouraged to use their discretion and expertise to determine which populations of students should receive in-person instruction whose needs are less likely to be met by virtual instruction. In addition to county-level metrics and COVID-19 surveillance data, school-level considerations are important as well, such as case and outbreak activity, specific trends and distribution of cases, absenteeism among students and staff within a school, and alternate remote learning site options and safety protocols. In every learning model, school districts are also advised to follow the health and safety protocols set forth by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and DCHD.”
As of today, the DCHD is supportive of districts moving forward with in-person learning plans. Due to our mitigation efforts and the low transmission of Covid-19 reports in schools across the county, District 41 will continue with our transition to the Blended AM/PM Model.
The safety of our students/staff and the stability of our learning models is our priority.
We have substantial mitigation efforts in place across the district.
We will monitor and collaborate with the DCHD on a week by week basis as we make decisions based on the data and circumstances specific to D41
Public health investigations/contact tracing so far have found the majority of case reports not to be linked with outbreak activity inside of schools.
Individual school districts will decide how to move forward with guidance from the DuPage County Health Department
If District 41 moves to full remote in the future, it will be temporary and learning will stay as consistent as possible. There are various reasons that the district may need to implement an Adaptive Pause. Our commitment is to keep any adaptive pauses as short as possible while prioritizing safety and stability in both our blended and remote models. You will find information about Adaptive Pause here.
We will monitor week by week and continue to keep the District 41 community informed of any potential changes. Unfortunately, the uncertainty is our reality. As I have said many times, we need to be prepared to move from model to model depending on the following factors:
We know that:
As a county, the health data shows that community transmission is in RED however, contact tracing information shows that transmissions are not happening in schools right now. This could change.
Our staffing plan is stable for now
PPE is readily available as are cleaning supplies
Our nurses are strictly adhering to the exclusionary requirements
Daily self-certification needs to be a priority as our number of missed self-certifications have increased
Outside of school behaviors and choices need to reflect a commitment to keeping schools open so that both of our models can be stable
I will again be on a Zoom with the DuPage County Health Department on Friday and will provide an update to our families later on that day. We will also have a District Digest going out this week with an update from our Pandemic Response Advisory Team.
Dr. K
Dr. Melissa Kaczkowski
Superintendent
Glen Ellyn School District 41
Email: webmaster@d41.org
Website: www.d41.org
Location: 793 North Main Street, Glen Ellyn, IL, USA
Phone: 630.790.6400
Facebook: facebook.com/glenellynd41
Twitter: @glenellynd41