Here's What LTHS Is Planning For Fall

LA GRANGE, IL — Lyons Township High School is opening the new school year with remote learning, the school announced Tuesday. Officials cited the rising number of coronavirus cases, both locally and nationally.

Superintendent Timothy Kilrea said the district arrived at the decision after "much deliberation."

"Despite our best possible health screening and mitigation efforts, the likelihood of transmission, infection and quarantine would cause constant interruption and disruption to the learning process with potentially hundreds of students, faculty and staff members being quarantined at various points," Kilrea said in a statement.

More and more school districts are starting the year with remote learning. But two larger area districts — Hinsdale High School District 86 and Elmhurst School District 205 — are beginning with a blended approach combining in-person and remote lessons. The Elmhurst district said about 85 percent of families favored in-person learning.

In the last month, La Grange has seen about 100 more coronavirus cases, totaling 300 as of Tuesday. That's nearly 2 percent of the village's population.

In Western Springs, cases numbered 127 as of Tuesday, double the number a month ago. The caseload is about a percent of the town's population.

In his message, Kilrea said the school wants to return to in-person learning as soon as possible.

"The most compelling rationale for having some form of in-person learning is the need for students to regain a sense of normalcy and have positive social experiences during this uncertain time," the superintendent said. "However, given the significant health and safety guidelines we must follow, there would be nothing normal about the daily in-person experience for students. In fact, if we provided in-person learning under the current guidelines, we would be required to do everything we could to limit students’ interactions with each other and their teachers."

When schools closed in March, the state's mandates limited schools' ability to deliver high-quality remote instruction, Kilrea said. This fall, though, Lyons Township will include a return to required attendance, grading of student work, clear expectations and four days of real-time learning a week, he said.

In mid-July, Lyons Township released a statement indicating it would start the school year with a blend of in-person and remote learning. But the school warned at the time that its plans were subject to change.

The high school serves more than 4,000 students on campuses in La Grange and Western Springs. It employs 250 teachers, according to the Illinois Report Card.

School starts Aug. 20.