South and Central High Schools Closing

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale High School District 86 will close its schools at the end of the day today, the district announced in a mass email Friday afternoon. This is in response to the coronavirus. Next week, the district's students will be on an e-learning plan. Then spring break will begin. All after-school events and activities, including athletics, will be canceled while the schools are closed.

"We will provide more detailed information about our plans for the next few weeks later today and tomorrow," Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said in the email.

Prentiss said the district has been informed President Donald Trump and Gov. J.B. Pritzker may be making announcements Friday afternoon that will impact the status of schools in the face of circumstances surrounding the coronavirus. She said the school district is in unity with the DuPage County Regional Office of Education and other districts in the county. Those districts, she said, have also agreed to close their schools at the end of the day today.

In a mass email earlier in the day, Prentiss said she had been left confused and frustrated by information provided by other levels of government. She noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his news conference that events that would attract more than 1,000 people are prohibited, yet schools the size of South and Central, both of which are well more than 1,000, should stay open.

In the email, Prentiss said officials must consider the possible "ripple effect" of closing the schools. For instance, the two high schools have more than 500 students who qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Others also receive services such as social work, physical therapy and occupational therapy. The district must figure out how to continue those services should it move to e-learning, she said.