By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
For the latest example of how school administrators are increasingly exerting their power over families, check out what Glenview, Illinois officials are demanding of some students. It has many parents irate.
Administrators have ordered all eighth graders at the 840-student Springman Middle School to go remote until after January 3. The officials’ justification is an “outbreak” of cases among eighth graders at the school (see full school communication at the end of this piece). In Illinois, an outbreak is defined as at least three cases within a specified core group. Springman sixth and seventh graders will continue to attend the school as normal.
The return to remote learning is already more than enough to upset parents. There’s a near-universal agreement across the country that remote learning has been an absolute failure during COVID. “It’s unacceptable, taking healthy kids and refusing them in-person education with less than a half-day’s notice. We’re two years into this pandemic, we know the risks,” Jennifer Preston, a mother with an eighth grader in the school district, told Wirepoints.
But there’s another part of the protocol that equally outrages many parents. From the district’s letter to eighth-grade parents:
Students should not attend activities beginning this afternoon [Dec. 8] or otherwise gather outside of the home; these gatherings could lead to additional spread, which could impact our ability to return to an in-person environment on January 3.
District admins are effectively forbidding any interactions between students not just during the period of remote learning, but into the winter break. The last day of school is December 17, but administrators want all Springman eighth graders in their homes through December 21.
“It’s extreme,” says Amy Laurencelle, a parent with an eighth-grade daughter at Springman. “According to their rules, we can’t begin our family celebrations until they say we can.”
Another parent summed up the hypocrisy: “I have a hard time imagining these same school board members not going on vacation or gathering.”
Not only does the district’s decision affect in-person learning, but other activities unrelated to the school are also being impacted.
Children from Springman are being told by their local Catholic church that they can’t attend religion classes. And a basketball league that prepares kids for high school basketball – the Jr. Titans – won’t let Springman eighth graders attend practice. (See excerpt of the email sent to parents of Jr. Titans basketball players.)
Glenview’s COVID facts
Remote learning out of an “abundance of caution” looks even more arbitrary when looking at the village of Glenview’s COVID facts. That data should be a major factor in determining what mitigations schools in the area implement.
For starters, Glenview is actually the 6th-most vaccinated community in Cook County, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health. It has a one-dose vaccination rate of over 90 percent and a two-dose rate of over 70 percent.
And according to the district website, Glenview SD34 has a teacher and staff vaccination rate of 97 percent.
The high level of vaccination for at-risk residents in the community – the elderly and those with underlying conditions – has helped. Since the emergence of the Delta variant in July, there have been just nine deaths in Glenview with COVID listed as the primary cause, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner. All victims were aged 69 or older and every one of them had serious comorbidities.
And an important note as it relates to schools, no one under the age of 20 in Glenview has died from COVID since the inception of the pandemic. That’s in line with the CDC’s 99.997% infection survival rate for youth across the country.
In fact, of the 18 youth deaths in Cook County, none have occurred in the North or Northwest suburbs, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner.
Frustrations
Parents’ other big frustration comes from how quickly the change was sprung on them – and how little the school board or the administration seems to care about parental input.
“It doesn’t seem like feedback from the community is fully considered by the school board,” local parent Ed Forsberg told Wirepoints.
Amy Laurencelle agrees. “We just need more transparency from the school board so we know what to anticipate given that this virus isn’t going away.”
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Glenview is not alone in moving to remote learning. Riverview School District in East Peoria and Tri-City CUSD1 near Springfield have already announced remote learning for their districts.
As Omicron picks up, look for other districts to follow suit. Students will end up being punished out of “an abundance of caution” and often arbitrary mitigation rules.
Except in truly extreme circumstances, kids should remain in school.
Read more about the COVID pandemic in Illinois:
- The Delta variant and its limited impact on Illinois children
- Wirepoints COVID-19 daily data
- 228 Chicago youth have died from homicide, just 12 from COVID, since pandemic began
- Hey, Pritzker, leave them kids alone
- Stop Following CDC COVID Guidance Because The CDC Lies
- Learn more about the impact the virus is having on Illinois.
Below is the Dec. 7 message sent to 8th-grade Springman Middle School parents:
Dear 8th Grade Families,
Last week, after multiple COVID-19 cases occurred, the Cook County Department of Public Health determined that we could continue in-person learning as long as no new cases emerged through outbreak testing and we were able to maintain 6’ distancing among students in impacted classrooms. However, yesterday’s outbreak testing uncovered an additional positive case; there is an additional probable case as well.
Therefore, starting on Wednesday, December 8, on the directive of CCDPH, Springman’s eighth grade students will begin an adaptive pause and move to a fully remote environment. They will return to in-person learning on January 3, 2022, after winter break. This quarantine will address any concern of asymptomatic cases that could cause further spread.
All close contacts have been notified and informed of the steps they must take. In order to stop the spread, all eighth grade students should stay home until December 21 (14 days from the date of last exposure to a positive case, which was December 6) unless you already have been informed of an earlier date from the school health office. Students should not attend activities beginning this afternoon or otherwise gather outside of the home; these gatherings could lead to additional spread, which could impact our ability to return to an in-person environment on January 3.
If your child develops symptoms, please contact the school nurse, Whitney Henrique (whenrique@glenview34.org), as soon as possible.
If you have children in other grades, they are able to come to school. We do encourage you to have them tested, either during weekly SHIELD testing if they are signed up, or at an outside provider. Flick Park testing is a convenient option. If other children develop symptoms, contact the school nurse of their building.
During this adaptive pause, each student on the free/reduced meal plan is eligible for daily benefits based on their in person attendance. Due to remote learning, these students will not be offered a meal to be consumed at school (on an attendance day) which will then make them eligible for benefits on that day (and so on). These daily benefits should be loaded directly onto student’s current P-ebt cards.
If your family requires assistance with meals during this 8-day adaptive pause, please contact the Food Service Dept at food@glenview34.org. P-ebt information is attached to this email for your reference.
Students will be informed about this move to adaptive pause during their last period class so that they have time to gather all the supplies and materials they need for remote learning. Zoom links and other communication will be posted in Schoology in time for the start of the student day tomorrow (which is a late start).
We recognize the challenges that this move poses to students and families, and appreciate your partnership in protecting the safety and health of our entire school community. We are so thankful to our teachers for their flexibility and their skills in connecting with their students in any environment. If you have concerns about the impact of the remote environment on your child, please don’t hesitate to reach out to their teachers, to our school social workers or psychologists or to me.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the free speech controversy brewing in Wilmette due to the city’s refusal to fly a religious freedom flag, the city’s left-wing excesses and the growing culture war, the latest money spent on the illegal immigrant crisis, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 4/14/2024.
Chicago Public Schools is failing its students in almost every way. What can be done to save the educational futures of Chicago’s children? Join Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski as he participates in an education roundtable discussion hosted by Seeking Educational Excellence (SEE).
After the protest, did the school change any of the Covid rules?
Fire one half or more of the teachers, as they are not needed with remote learning.
Let’s assume ideally you are right that literally some 9,000-10,000 teachers are not needed today primarily for the reason you stated, remote learning. But, where is the re-staffing plan for attracting even a reduced number of teacher positions (8,000?) in short order “tomorrow”? I doubt there is one and certainly one that would attract high quality candidates to CPS in the currently somewhat scary social discord found in many neighborhoods of Chicago.
I would tell them to pound sand.
I’d say just KMA and be done with it.
Almost crapped my pants when I read this I was laughing so hard.
WOW! talk about overreach, is this China or Russia!
Those school administrators should be answering to their local school board members. How did they become school board members? Because they were elected meaning the people did this to themselves.
“In Illinois, an outbreak is defined as at least three cases within a specified core group.”
Want to bet this has occurred with the flu every winter since time immemorial?
The vaccine is a bunch of hooey and so is the Corona. The test can’t tell the difference between a cold, the flu or whatever new variant of Covid they have come up with this week.
Don’t let the cure be worse than the disease!
They cannot forbid you from doing anything in your home! Stop letting them. Picket school board homes! Enough crap already!
No, do not picket homes. Protest, but homes are off limits.
Mark, the letter states that this decision was a “directive” from the Cook County Dept of Health. Was this a district decision, or did the county make the do it? Does the county have the authority to do this? If so, this article is dubious.
In the school letter we provided in the above piece, it says that Springman acted “on the directive of CCPDH…” My understanding is that the school was subsequently challenged on that. As you will see in a follow up email to the parents, the school changed its message and now says it was a decision of the district. There was no such directive, but rather only recommendations from CCPDH. The language is provided below: Dear District 34 Families and Staff, As we shared earlier this week, due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases at Springman, which were connected… Read more »
”they” are in our homes, in our bodies, in our wallets. . .but don’t reciprocate! Nooooo !
Picket? Heck those people are too lazy to go vote in school board elections much less expect them to go lift a sign or two.
Democrats have been making a run at the Northfield Township recently too.
If I lived there…
I’d obey these edicts like I obey the *medical experts* edicts..
I wouldn’t…
Coward ass kissers.
Glenview has become a democratic cess pool! Have fun with your schools Glenview!!!
You deserve this for the fools you voted for!
Joke! This is tyranny at it’s finest and sadly parents are stupid enough to oblige! Wake up!
Numbers don’t lie. The shot DOESN’T work, masks DON’T work. Go back to normal, ignore those that aren’t willing to accept facts and statistics.
Statistics often prove out something you never thought of. These statistics prove that rich north suburbanites have bought into the fear mongering hook line and sinker as well as submission. Statistics like this don’t prove a thing about covid itself. I bet you’ll never see a Gadsden flag flying in these towns in anyones yard, a pretty common sight in Lockport or Joliet or Utica. A lot of scary cats.
There are too many around here who prescribe to the fantasy/unicorn theory that the jab gets everything back to normal. Many who have the “check the box” mentality, which is fine with organization and living your daily life. But in this case no one does any research before they check a pretty important box.
The Covidians have spoken!-you must do what we say,OR ELSE!-what a freaking joke,the idiots are continually getting away this because the weak sheeple,i mean parents allow it,are there no men in that community,doesnt appear to be!
Decades ago Glenview was a quiet rural community with farms and livestock. If you are in the area pause for a moment and you can hear the quiet strains of baaaaa, baaaaa, baaaaaa. It’s as if the sheep are still there.
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