This is a roundup of small news items from Naperville School District 203:
COVID compliance
The district’s 3,000-plus full- and part-time employees are in compliance with the state’s mandate requiring schools employees either be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing, according to information obtained by the Naperville Sun through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Of the 3,056 people employed by the district, 2,842 — about 93% — are vaccinated. The remaining 214 employees have opted to take weekly COVID-19 tests, data shows.
Of the overall number of employs, about 1,400 are teachers.
Should any employees go out of compliance with weekly testing, they will be banned from their campuses, district spokesman Alex Mayster said.
More homeroom periods
Naperville North and Naperville Central high school students will have two homeroom periods per week beginning Jan. 6 so that students can have additional time for academic and social-emotional support/intervention.
“Research indicates that providing consistent targeted time for all students to connect with a trusted adult, focus on academic support and build social emotional skills increases academic achievement and connectedness to the school environment,” Naperville Central Principal William Wiesbrook told the D203 School Board at its meeting last week.
The 45-minute homeroom periods be on Tuesday and Thursday mornings once classes resume after winter break. Class periods on those days will be reduced by five minutes each to accommodate the homeroom time, officials said.
Test-to-stay plans
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Superintendent Dan Bridges said District 203 is closer to adopting a test-to-stay COVID-19 testing option at its schools.
The district is finalizing strategies to make test-to-stay work and follow the guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health, Bridges said at last week’s board meeting.
The program allows students who have been in the company of someone diagnosed with COVID-19 to be tested on the first, third, fifth and seventh days after exposure. If they do not test positive, they will allowed to stay in class rather than having to go home to quarantine.
“We are confident this process of test-to-stay allows us to significantly reduce the number of students who must quarantine,” Bridges said.
District 203 plans to have a centralized testing site that would be open Mondays through Fridays.