Huntley 158 families,
You may have read that the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health earlier today released updated guidance to schools in support of increased in-person learning.
We received this guidance today, at the same time that it was released publicly, and our leadership team is still in the process of reading and analyzing it. Among the key provisions of the updated guidance are:
- A reduction in the recommended physical distance to be maintained for in-person learning from 6 feet to no less than 3 feet
- A change to determining space capacity limits for activities such as learning and eating based on the ability to accommodate social distancing, rather than a set capacity limit
- Maintaining of the 50-individual limit on buses
While this updated guidance takes some steps in widening the pathway to full in-person learning at all levels, it does not alleviate all challenges that remain for many districts. In particular for Huntley 158 the bus capacity limit of 50 continues to pose a great challenge, especially when layered on top of the existing nationwide driver shortage.
In short, we are encouraged by this new guidance and will work to incorporate it into our existing glide path toward full in-person learning at all levels. Until the remaining challenges are resolved, we will continue with our plans for expanded in-person learning, including the shift to full-day, five-day in-person learning for hybrid students at the K-5 level starting on March 15.
We will continue to work in the coming days to analyze and incorporate this new guidance into our plans moving forward. As always, we will communicate any changes to families with as much advance notice as possible.
Thank you as always for your continued patience and support.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowe, Ed.D.
Superintendent
