School Year Will Begin Remotely
Naperville School District 203 and Indian Prairie School District 204 will start the upcoming 2020-2021 school year remotely.
Both districts announced the change to their return to learn plans today, noting the updates on each of their websites.
District 203
District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges said the decision was prompted when the Illinois State Board of Education released their Fall 2020 Learning Recommendations on July 23. Based on this guidance, the school district decided to start the school year remotely.
“After much deliberation, we have determined that in consideration of the most recent guidelines, the best way for Naperville 203 to support the health and safety of our students and staff, meet our and your high expectations for teaching and learning, to provide appropriate social experiences for our students, and to return to in person learning as soon as possible, we will begin the 2020-2021 school year with an eLearning model and will slowly transition into the hybrid learning model for those who are able and ready to return to in-person learning,” said Bridges in the announcement.
The district will reevaluate the situation every six weeks.
Bridges reminds the community that changes to guidelines can result in further changes to the Return to Learn plan. You can find a summary of the updated plan here.
“This is an extremely difficult decision that was reached based on many considerations. Please recognize this might be welcome news for some of our families, but others will find this decision disappointing,” said Bridges in the announcement. “Our primary goal continues to be to develop and implement a plan that can be flexible and responsive to the changing conditions of the pandemic and ultimately return to full in-person instruction.”
The Naperville 203 administration will present its updated recommendations to the Board of Education at the August 3 meeting at 7:00 p.m., which will be held virtually.
District 204
Indian Prairie School District 204 has also decided to start the school year remotely.
“With new guidelines being released on a regular basis from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois State Board of Education, and local health departments, it is my recommendation that we provide stability by announcing we will start the school year having all students begin remotely through October 30,” said District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley in the announcement.
Talley said they will continue to monitor guidance and adjust as needed at the end of the first quarter. He reminds the community the remote learning experience will be different than what happened in March.
“Students will have robust and challenging coursework that is reflective of the caliber of teachers in our district and aligned to the expectations of our parents,” said Talley in the announcement. “This is not a decision I make lightly; however, I am confident that we can maintain District 204’s commitment to excellence and rigor while keeping our students and staff safe.”
District 204’s Board of Education will review the revised plan at their August 3 meeting.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
