A shift to full-day in-person learning at Glencoe’s public schools is set to start in late March, officials have announced.
At the Glencoe District 35 board meeting on March 4, administration officials detailed how the village’s three schools would operate for the last part of the school year amid lowering COVID-19 metrics.
Since the beginning of the school year, District 35 has largely used a hybrid format in which children come to school for half the day and study remotely the other half, with some families preferring an all-remote format. The current breakdown is 89% hybrid students and 11% remote, according to Superintendent Catherine Wang.
Based on a recently conducted survey combined with interaction between school principals and some families, Wang is anticipating 93% of the students will study in person all day.
Wang said families were also surveyed on the preferences around spacing between students.
She said 63% of families would allow less than six feet of spacing between children, 16% were not sure and 7% would not allow less than six feet. The others did not respond. Wang said the building plans would feature spacing between four and six feet, and a majority of the time it would be between five to six feet.
Wang said most of the concerns from families regarded lunchtime practices. She said the procedures called for children sitting six feet apart with shields. Families are also asked to provide waste-free lunches.
To start and conclude the day, all three principals encouraged children to ride a bicycle or walk to school to ease concerns around crowding before and after classes.
At South School, the home for kindergarten through second graders, Principal Kelly Zonghetti said a color-coded entry door entry system used for the hybrid schedule would remain.
“We are going to continue with that procedure as we feel that is a wonderful way to decrease the amount of students at the door,” Zonghetti said.
After an 8:45 a.m. arrival, Zonghetti said desks would be four to six feet apart with shields.
Zonghetti said the plan is to start the full day learning would start at South on March 22.
At West School, where the district’s third and fourth graders attend, Principal David Rongey also anticipates the shift to start on March 22.
Rongey said the current entry doors assigned to children would remain in place and they would extend carline locations where students may enter or exit a car along Willow Tree Lane.
“We will get more students in and out of the car in a more time-efficient manner, which will come into play as we extend the day,” Rongey said.
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Rongey said the first bell would bell would ring at 8:35 a.m. and asked families not to send their children to school early.
Rongey said they are still working on how to create distancing patterns in the classrooms with the expected additional students.
At Central School, which serves fifth through eighth graders, Principal Ryan Mollet said children would mostly be in one classroom, but as is the case in the hybrid format, there is some movement to attend Integrated Arts classrooms or science laboratories for seventh and eighth graders.
“Many of the mitigation strategies that will continue, we will just combine them with morning and afternoon group,” Mollet said.
He said the school will continue to use grade-specific doors to enter and exit and they are asking fifth and sixth graders to come to school a few minutes earlier than seventh and eighth graders.
“When you think about the 500-plus students that we have at Central School, the thought of everybody showing up at one time or the thought of everybody leaving at one time is a little bit overwhelming,” Mollet said.
Mollet said the switch is set to start on April 5, the week after the districtwide spring vacation. He believed it would be easier for Central students to start the new system as an academic quarter concludes.
Wang acknowledged the different dates between Central and the other two schools could be an issue for some families.
“We recognize it may be a burden for some families,” she said. “But I think it is a shift in the right direction.”
Wang asked families not to send children to school if child is sick or a family member is being tested for COVID-19.
She added remote instruction would no longer be available for one or two day absences, or if a child is traveling. However, if a child cannot attend school due to COVID-19 issues, the families can work with school officials.
Wang said 99% of the staff have received at least the vaccine first dose, and more than 50% have received both doses.
Karen Leeds, co-president of the Glencoe Education Association, the union that represents the District 35 teachers, wrote in an email that a “majority” of the members looked forward to welcoming students back for full-time education.
Wang added she has heard from some families who prefer the hybrid formal, but she believes the district is ready for the shift.
“It also helps us to look at what works and refine what we can do this last quarter to plan for fall,” she said. “We need to test that and try that and work out any kinks and barriers so that we can be in the best possible stage for our fall planning.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter.