CHSD 218 Ready For In-Person Return Despite Rising COVID-19 Cases

OAK LAWN, IL — Community High School officials are preparing for an in-person return for students this week and feel confident they are providing a safe environment for students despite surging coronavirus cases numbers in Cook County.

In a letter to the school community, CHSD 218 Superintendent Ty Harding said that officials feel the district is prepared to offer in-person learning “as long as mitigations are in place and we have the staff in place” to receive students, Harding wrote. Students are set to return to the classroom on Wednesday after being off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

However, Harding said that students need to remain at home if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms coming out of a holiday break that may have included out-of-town travel. He said doing so is necessary to keep the district safe for continued in-person learning.

“Sending children to school who may not be feeling well may mean additional quarantines and the possibility that if students and staff become symptomatic, that we will have to quarantine a classroom, a school, or return to remote learning as a District,: Harding wrote in the letter. “If students are not feeling well, please, please keep them home.”

Harding said that the district will communicate with parents if a change in in-person learning is necessary due to changes in state COVID-19 guidelines. On Monday, Cook County’s mandate of required proof of vaccination to enter businesses, bars, restaurants and gyms went into effect.

As of last week, Cook County's test positivity rate stood at 14.8 percent while COVID-19 cases were on the rise nationally as part of the omicron variant.

Harding said that the district is prepared to implement changes to its COVID-19 protocols which have been offered by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The changes reduce quarantine and isolation times for people that test positive for COVID-19 and Harding said that the district will change its guidelines if they are mandated by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Until then, Harding said that the district will stick with its current guidelines until it becomes necessary to change.

“Please be prepared for any sudden changes that may take place,” Harding wrote. “If there is anything we have learned about COVID, we have learned that it is unpredictable.”