Enough Staff For Elmhurst D-205?

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst School District 205 officials aren't sugarcoating about starting in-person classes: It's going to be hard to have enough teachers on board. But they promised to try their best.

With the pandemic, the officials are walking a tightrope: The teachers union wants the schools to go entirely remote, while the district says a vast majority of surveyed parents prefer at least some in-person learning.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, member Courtenae Trautmann pressed administrators for answers on what they were doing to make sure classrooms were staffed.

Luke Pavone, the district's assistant superintendent for human resources, said principals and other administrators were working "tirelessly" to create schedules in light of the staffing challenges.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I cannot guarantee you that we'll have this all figured out," Pavone said.

He said concerns over the coronavirus pandemic were "severely" affecting some employees.

"Just this week alone, there have been some resignations come in. People haven't thought about that aspect with people resigning from positions because they feel that's what they have to do to meet their own needs or their families' needs," Pavone said.

He noted the complexities with scheduling in a situation such as a pandemic.

"I really don't feel people understand that aspect about how a building has to schedule for all of these different scenarios and dealing with the very unprecedented amount of individuals who do have some very legitimate issues, which is why they are requesting remote assignments," Pavone said.

Trautmann and other board members noted residents are volunteering their services to oversee classrooms if shortages happen. But Pavone said people in such positions need to be certified, though he said he appreciated the community's support.

Superintendent Dave Moyer said district officials were doing everything "humanly possible" to get in-person classes started. Officials said they were working hard to find substitutes.

Under a plan approved in July, the district decided to start school Aug. 24 with a blend of in-person and remote days for middle and high school students and in-person instruction every day for elementary school students.

But because of a lack of staff, officials said Tuesday that won't be logistically possible until Sept. 14 at the earliest. So students would learn remotely for the first three weeks.

At the meeting, board member Karen Stuefen said two-thirds of staff were prepared to execute the district's in-person plan.