District 218 Schools Take Phased-In Approach To Fall Reopening

OAK LAWN, IL – As school districts across Illinois continue to unveil their reopening plans for the fall, District 218 Community High School officials announced this week that they will begin the school year using a remote learning model.

But if all goes according to plan and conditions allow, it won’t be long before students are back in the classroom as part of a plan that district superintendent Ty Harting said officials will have be ready to pivot on if needed.

In a letter to district parents this week, Harting announced that the district will rely on a phased-in plan to reopening. After students learn remotely for the first three weeks of the school year, the current plan calls for students to return to in-person learning after Labor Day.

Under the current plan, district students will begin classes on Aug. 17. After Labor Day, students will be divided into two groups based on their last name and will alternate between in-person and remote learning. To maintain safety guidelines and social distancing protocols, only 50 percent of the student body will be permitted to attend in-person classes on any given day.

The school day will begin at 10 a.m. and run through 3:30 p.m. – a timeline that could be adjusted to allow classes to begin at 8 a.m.

“Trying to balance student and staff safety and a quality academic program has been a challenging mission,” school officials wrote in the district plan. “We all want our students to receive the best education possible under the current conditions and we are confident our plan meets that goal.”

As a way of providing answers o parents, administrators announced it is setting up virtual Town Hall meetings on Aug. 5 for each of the district schools.

Parents will also have the option of allowing their students to continue learning on a remote basis.

In his letter to parents, Harting said that the opinion of the district is that it needs to take the virus seriously and that students and staff members need to cooperate with safety guidelines to ensure as safe of a learning environment as possible.

“We recognize the awesome responsibility we have been given to educate your kids,” Harting wrote. “We need to educate your students to the best of our ability while simultaneously keeping their safety – and the safety of our staff – a main priority.”

He continued: “I wish I could promise you that our plan is written in stone, but I can’t. We need to take this – literally – one day or one week at a time.”