Skokie Steven Isoye Message For Covid-19 Update To D219 Families

From Niles Township High Schools District 219:

March 12, 2020

Dear D219 Families,

We are sending you this letter to update you on actions Niles Township High School District 219 is taking in response to the rapidly evolving spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Please understand, given how quickly things are changing, that we are continuously monitoring developments in our community and that we are working closely with the Skokie Health Department, which itself is in ongoing contact with the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Illinois State Board of Education, and other public health agencies. We are very grateful to the Skokie Health Department, which provides guidance that benefits our students and their families in all four municipalities we serve.

This letter serves to update you on the preparations we are taking. Please understand that, because things are changing so quickly, we may need to make changes on an hour-by-hour basis. We will work hard to keep our D219 families informed about any changes.

For now, we will continue to follow the regularly scheduled school day. At the same time, we are developing alternative plans in the event we need to close our schools.

The reason we exist as a public school is to educate our students and to provide the highest level possible of teaching and learning. That being said, our top priority is the health, safety and welfare of our students, faculty and staff members.

At this time, we believe it is in the best interest of our students to continue teaching our students in the context of the regular school day. At the same time, we are working with our staff to develop e-learning plans that we can implement if we make the decision to close our schools, based on the direction we receive from local and state health officials.

Beginning on Friday, March 13, we ask that students and staff begin to bring home any materials, on a daily basis, that they would need in order to complete assignments in the event of a school closure. This includes their Chromebooks.

We are asking any student who does not have high-speed internet access at home to fill out this form to request a mobile hotspot.

Effective immediately, based on guidance from the Skokie Health Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health, large school events will be cancelled until further notice.

We will cancel or postpone all school-sponsored large after-school events that include members of the public. This includes the Niles North musical production, music concerts, and the College Fair that was scheduled for March 17 at Niles West.

The March 13 pep assemblies at Niles North and Niles West will also be cancelled.

Beginning March 16, all field trips, competitions and conferences will be cancelled or postponed until further notice.

This includes all field trips, all out-of-district competitions attended by students and all conferences attended by faculty and staff members. Each building will communicate with impacted staff, families, travel agencies and other partners to assist in seeking refunds or rescheduling the trip or event, if possible.

We are currently seeking guidance from the Illinois High School Association about athletic competitions.

Cleaning, sanitizing and precautionary measures Our maintenance teams continue to clean and sanitize high-touch places and high-contact places in our buildings, including desks, handrails, doorknobs, faucet handles, phones, etc.

The following resources provide guidance related to COVID-19, as well as mitigation strategies for home, school and the workplace:

Coronavirus information from the Skokie Health Department

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Illinois Department of Public Health

Illinois has also established a COVID-19 hotline and email address. If you have specific questions about COVID-19, you can contact the Illinois COVID-19 hotline at 800-889-3931 or via email at dph.sick@illinois.gov

We recognize that this unprecedented public health emergency presents our community with significant challenges and causes much stress and anxiety. We are working hard to stay on top of developments in our community and will continue to work diligently with our local and state health experts to make the best decisions possible.

Thank you for your understanding and for your patience. We are fortunate to live in a community that has the resources, the capacity and the desire to help us all work together for the health and welfare of our community. Thank you for your ongoing support of our schools and of our students during these difficult times.

Sincerely,

Dr. Steven Isoye Superintendent of Schools

This press release was produced by Niles Township High Schools District 219. The views expressed here are the author’s own.