D26 Preps For Remote Learning Possibility This Fall

CARY, IL — The District 26 school board is set to vote next week on a technology plan that would put iPads in the hands of all students in first through eighth grades next school year. The district's finance committee discussed the proposed $297,000 technology purchase plan during a meeting Monday and the school board is expected to vote on the funds, which would include the cost to lease 620 additional iPads from Apple, on Monday, school officials told Patch in an e-mail response.

The school district is planning for the possibility of remote learning "in the event that our nation is still battling COVID-19 in the fall or in the unthinkable situations where a second wave of the pandemic begins," according to a memo from District 26 staff to the finance committee.

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After schools closed in recent weeks due to the coronavirus, shifting learning online, students in 3rd through 8th grades in D26 were given iPads. Now, the school district wants to make sure students in first and second grade will have iPads as well during the 2020-21 school years.

The school district aims to use tools like Schoology and Seesaw, as well as Zoom, to help provide interactive assignments and activities for its students and to connect students with teachers, social workers and psychologists, according to District 26 documents.

"Zoom also allows our staff to work with students in small groups or even in some cases have entire class discussions with everyone sitting in their own homes instead of the classroom. These tools and teaching methods are not possible without the use of technology," according to District 26.

• Illinois Coronavirus Update May 12: 79,007 Cases, 3,459 Deaths

The proposed technology plan is meant to align with recommendations made by state superintendent Carmen Ayala, school officials said. She is recommending schools prep for the possibility of traditional in-person instruction as well as remote learning next school year.

"Over the past two months, we have seen that many schools lack this capability, which leaves them at a vast disadvantage compared to districts that already have well-rooted remote learning systems," Ayala wrote in an April 27 letter. "No matter what happens, those preparations would not be in vain. We should consider remote learning as just another tool in our toolkit to help Illinois children achieve their highest potential."

District 26 officials say the iPad purchases are also in line with the district's goal "of having all our students learning in a 1:1 climate," according to D26 documents.

The funds proposed for District 26's 2020-21 technology plan can be found below:

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