Full-Day Kindergarten Is Out In D46 Reopening Plan

Grayslake IL

17 July, 2020

11:20 AM

Description

GRAYSLAKE, IL — Community Consolidated School District 46 parents will be tasked with deciding whether to have their kids learn in-person or remotely this fall, and they must get the school district an answer by early next week. The school district released its reopening plan this past week, telling families its up to them to let the district know whether they'd prefer their child receive five days per week of on-site learning or five days per week of remote learning, according to the District 46 plan. Illinois Coronavirus Update July 17: 157,950 Cases, 7,251 DeathsAll parents are required to respond to District 46 with their choice by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Community Consolidated School District 46 Superintendent Lynn Glickman wrote in a letter to parents. For those opting for in-person instruction, masks will be required for all students; special social distancing protocol will be in place and desks will be spaced between three and six feet apart; and special cleaning procedures have been adopted. School officials say they may have to consider a hybrid model if a high number of families opt for on-site learning that would make maintaining social distancing in schools impossible, according to the reopening plan. Under that scenario, students may have to receive instruction in-person on some days and remote learning on other days. The school district has also decided to eliminate full-day kindergarten for the upcoming school year. Only half days will be an option for kindergarten students in 2020-21, according to D46's plan. Some of the benefits touted with this plan include only requiring the youngest students of the district to wear masks for half of a day and being able to make class sizes smaller, which will allow for more social distancing. Regarding meals served at school, which has a point of contention for school districts throughout the suburbs trying to adhere to safe social distancing standards, District 46 will have most students eat meals in their classrooms but other spaces in the school could also be used, including the multi-purpose room, cafeteria and possibly, outside areas. Students will be allowed to remove their masks while eating and school officials will try to maintain a six foot distance between students but that "is not guaranteed," according to the reopening plan. The full reopening plan can be found on the Community Consolidated School District 46 website.