D-205's In-Person Plan Still Under Wraps

Elmhurst IL

08 February, 2021

8:35 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst School District 205 board's agenda says it plans to vote Tuesday on an "In-Person Learning Plan" for the rest of the semester. What's in the plan? No document has been revealed publicly. The online agenda for Tuesday's meeting only says the board will vote on the plan "as presented." A District 205 spokeswoman said the plan would not be released until it is presented at the meeting. Also, the board is slated to vote on a contract with Safeguard Surveillance to provide sixth through 12th graders weekly saliva screening for the coronavirus. The board has discussed this possibility for months and had planned to vote on testing in January, but delayed it. The contract would be for no more than $660,000, according to the meeting agenda. While the district has yet to divulge its in-person plan, Superintendent Dave Moyer gave some clues last month about what it would contain. He said it would be a priority to bring back kindergarten and first grade students to class every day. At Sandburg and Bryan middle schools, students, who are divided into three groups, can only show up a third of the time. That's because of capacity issues in a social distancing environment, officials say. Surveys have shown that a vast majority of the district's parents want a return to in-person learning. Many have criticized the district for being entirely remote for a big chunk of the school year, while area private schools have allowed far more -in-person learning. The school board's open meeting is set to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday.