Orland District 135 switches to remote learning, start day delayed till Sept. 8

The school district reverted to remote learning after receiving updated guidance from Illinois Department of Public Health that puts strain on PPE resources

Students in Orland School District 135 will start the 2020-21 academic year remotely. The move follows Consolidated High School District 230’s decision a week prior to also begin the year remotely. 

During an Aug. 13 special Board of Education meeting, board members, Superintendent John Bryk and other district leaders agreed to switch from a hybrid model to fully remote learning. The switch did not require a vote, according to district attorney Thomas Melody. 

Screenshot of Orland School District 135’s Aug. 13 Special Board of Education meeting

The district will also work to put together an updated plan for students with individualized education programs (IEP), English language learners and students with a 504 plan, Bryk said. The district will get those updates to families “as soon as we can,” he added. 

The board also approved a delayed start to the school year, with students now beginning on Sept. 8. Under the district’s revised plan, students will be remote for the first trimester, the board and Bryk agreed. The first trimester ends Dec. 11, according to the revised calendar. Meanwhile, District 230 currently plans to phase students into its 25% in-person stage on Sept. 21. 

District 135, with nearly 5,000 students, changed course from its hybrid learning model because of updated guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) — handed down Aug. 12 — that would require students or staff with just one covid-19 symptom to isolate. The guidance also states that school nurses would need to wear N95 masks, gloves, gowns and face shields when examining somebody in isolation and would also require custodians cleaning classrooms with suspected or confirmed cases to wear the same amount of personal protective equipment (PPE). 

“I’ve had communication with our feeder districts into [District] 230, and to say that the frustration level is high would be an understatement at this point,” Bryk said to the board. “I think someone used moving the goal post as an analogy in one of the public comments, and I feel like we’re in that position, as well. For a situation where you’re trying to make arrangements and then all of a sudden this particular situation comes up, this is just my opinion, I think this is just a workaround to try to get schools to not send kids to school because to sustain this long-term is untenable for us,” the superintendent said, referring to the health department’s updated guidance on schools. 

The additional guidance — which appeared to come as a surprise to the board and district leaders — would put an extra strain on the district’s PPE resources. “That’s going to burn through our PPE quite a bit faster than we anticipated,” said Rick Hansen, director of facilities, operations and maintenance for the district. 

IDPH’s guidance is viewed as a requirement, Hansen said. Board President Linda Peckham-Dodge echoed Hansen’s statement, adding: “According to our insurance company, we are covered if we follow the guidance, so to me that means it’s a requirement.” 

“IDPH has basically thrown everyone under the bus in my opinion,” Peckham-Dodge added. 

Board Member Tara Schreiber also expressed frustration with IDPH’s handling of school guidance. 

“I feel like they’re making it impossible for us to go back to school and they won’t call remote, so they want all the school boards to have to make these tough decisions, but in the end it’s impossible for us to go back because there’s nothing available for us to protect our nurses and our custodians,” Schreiber said. 

Schreiber and Board Member Dave Shalabi voiced concerns about the nature of the emails, calls and texts they’ve been receiving from district families in regards to school reopening plans. Shalabi said the district had never anticipated the updated guidance from IDPH and hadn’t expected they would need to revert to fully remote instruction to begin the year. Schreiber described some of the communications as “hate emails” that are “soul-crushing.” 

Under the revised plan, district instruction will be delivered with regular schedules and regular teachers, unlike the blended option, which would have had some teachers giving instruction to students across various schools in the district instead of just students in their “home building,” according to district leaders. The hybrid model would’ve also required staggered instruction. 

Having teachers stick to their home building would be the best option for students so there’s consistency and familiarity between teachers, principals and other staff, said Jennifer Nichols, assistant director of curriculum. David Snyder, director of curriculum for the district, agreed with Nichols. 

District leaders and the board seemed to be in broad agreement that the remote plan will be in effect for at least the first trimester. Once it gets closer to the end of the trimester, the district will have to reassess plans and give families the time to choose whether their kid(s) remain remote or return to hybrid instruction. 

As of now, “I don’t know how long we could sustain the hybrid model,” Bryk said. 

While students will be learning from home, staff will have the option to teach from their classrooms. 

Suzanne Owens, director of human resources for the district, said the district wants to support staff who choose to teach from their classrooms so they have access to all their instructional materials. However, some teachers might have medical conditions that prevent them from returning to in-person, she added. 

“Staff may not be able to come in-person because of a medical reason, but as Mr. Bryk said, if we’re able to allow them to continue teaching in a remote environment to our students remotely, then we would be able to keep having them work, but if that is not an option for them, then they would need to go on a leave of absence and we would have to get a substitute for them in their place,” Owens said. 

Also during the special board meeting, the board voted in approval of a new pay rate for substitute teachers during Phase 4 of Illinois’ “Restore Illinois” plan. The new rate of $120 per day and a graduated schedule for long-term substitutes is a noticeable increase from the previous rate of $96 per day, which was one of the lowest of surrounding districts, according to a document submitted to the board. 

“We feel that is [a] fair [rate] and will separate us from our surrounding districts as far as trying to recruit and sustain our substitute pool,” Bryk said. 

The district will likely need substitutes during remote learning and also will likely require substitute teachers if the district decides to have in-person instruction for ELL students and students with 504 plans and IEPs, Bryk said.