Every residence where a student lives in Huntley Community School District 158 will become a center of learning “temporarily” replacing the traditional classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year.
On the first day of student remote attendance set for Friday, August 21, all students in District 158 will report from their own residences. This is what’s called a modified remote learning model for this fall. The original plan offered options and was developed for Huntley District 158 during exhaustive efforts over the summer by staff and administrators. Between the options, families decided whether they wanted in-person learning for their student or fully remote learning or a hybrid experience blending in-person and remote learning, depending on the student’s age and year in school.
For some people with students in District 158, the administration’s decision for fully remote learning came as a shock because of the speed in which the change of direction came and because parents remembered their children trying to deal with an early version of remote learning this past spring when COVID-19 hit and school staff scrambled to adapt. Others concerned over attention to special needs students are asking many questions about the new version of remote learning. With the plan for specifics on their choice of options, parents and students were just starting to familiarize themselves with their role for 2020-2021.
On July 31, however, Superintendent Scott Rowe wrote, “The District has made the difficult decision to revise our initial plans. We understand that this decision will cause substantial disruption to the lives of many, and that reality is painful to all involved. Unfortunately, the reality we are facing is one of life and death.”
The initial intentions of Huntley District 158 mirrored many school districts across Illinois trying to make the best educational environment possible for students in a COVID-19 environment. But reality sunk in not only for District 158 but in neighboring school districts and the large districts that include Chicago, Elgin, and Naperville. Any chance of holding classes inside these schools for the fall became impossible, according to the administrations in the CPS, Elgin U-46, and Naperville District 203. These independent decisions by Illinois school districts begged the question of what forced the hands of administrators to erase all the hours of planning for in-school options to remote learning only. Rowe wrote in his letter to Huntley 158 families, “After holding clarifying conversations with the McHenry County COVID-19 Task force, other area school districts, and our own teachers’ and support staff unions, we reached the indelible conclusion that the risk of potentially lethal transmission within schools was too high—in fact, it was virtually inevitable.”
At the August 6 Huntley Community District 158 Board of Education Committee of the Whole, ten people submitted emails for public comments and a few came in person.
Huntley resident Carrie Schumacher, a former educator with children that have attended District 158 schools, showed her displeasure with the changes.
“We were deeply disappointed to learn that rather than collaborating with innovative thinkers across the community to develop a robust and flexible hybrid option, we’re relegated strictly to remote learning for the foreseeable future,” Schumacher said.
In the evaluation of a hybrid option, Rowe noted in his July 31 message to parents, “It has simply become clear in recent days that there is too much unknown about this highly contagious, deadly virus to have full confidence in any safety precautions. After analyzing the selections made by our families and evaluating several potential changes to our initial plan, too many unacceptable safety considerations remain,” Rowe said. To gauge the success of remote learning, the administration will ask families with students in remote learning to complete surveys. The administration hopes to gain details into the experience the families and their students are having with their remote courses and teachers and anything else affecting them. The feedback should help teachers in their course instruction.
When the journey began, administrators in District 158 had expectations that all of their teachers would teach from the classroom. But expectations changed and the administration realized the impact that would have not only on them but on their families.
“The reality of resignations and leave of absence that we would be faced with would probably cripple our system,” Rowe said.
The modified remote learning model for all students will tentatively last through at least October 16, 2020. The administration will begin a re-evaluation of its remote learning model.
“I don’t think anyone should have the expectation that the re-evaluation would be an immediate return to the July reopening plan as it was,” Rowe cautioned. Rowe urged baby steps toward a return to classroom structure if the evidence is all positive. If the educational in-school environment is not considered safe, the remote period will continue indefinitely. The district report on its revised plans also “calls for a task force to work on crafting plans for small groups to rotate in for limited in-person experiences throughout the remote period and small groups will be limited to six or fewer and will prioritize students with special service needs.”
The Superintendent wants parents to know the decision the administration made was with a “very heavy heart because we knew the burden that we’ll be placing the families under.”
Rowe points out that in every situation, the teachers, staff, parents, and students must remain flexible to every situation.
“There’s no one size fits all to anything COVID related. From Human Resources to dealing with student attendance, everyone is coming from a different situation. We have to do our best to find the best possible solution to a given situation,” Rowe said.
