Elmhurst 205 Reverses Itself On Remote Learning

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst School District 205, which announced a week earlier that its middle school French program would be largely virtual, reversed itself Friday.

Interim Superintendent Linda Yonke sent a letter to parents of students planning to take middle school French classes next school year.

She acknowledged an earlier district communication to the parents that she described as anticipating "elements of virtual learning."

But she said the district adjusted programming in an effort to secure in-person teaching for French classes, so remote learning was no longer needed.

Yonke said that if enrollment challenges presented an inability to offer French for any students, parents would be notified directly.

On April 30, the district announced to the parents of middle school French students that their classes would be remote two-thirds of the time. That was because a teacher would rotate among the district's three middle schools. When the teacher was not present, the students would watch the in-person class on their computers in the classroom.

The April 30 message came two days after the district announced to all parents that it planned to hold full in-person education in the fall.

District officials apparently kept the school board out of the loop in its original decision to make middle school French classes mostly remote. Member Jim Collins told Patch he found out about it from a parent.

Patch published a story about the decision last Wednesday. At the time, the district's spokeswoman, Beverly Redmond, said further changes may be made.