YORKVILLE – Nearly half of Yorkville School District 115 families who completed a return-to-school family preference questionnaire were in favor of having their children return to school in person.

About 46% out of 3,900 who answered the question "What would the ideal educational setting for your child?" in the Yorkville School District 115 survey to student families wanted their children to attend school on-site daily, according to Yorkville School District 115 survey responses.

"I believe you need to open up normally – these are only recommended, not law. I am saddened that Yorkville will [take] part of the political movement against the government," one survey taker wrote, in reference to the school district following guidelines set by Illinois health and education officials in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The comments from the survey sent to Yorkville school district families were obtained by Record Newspapers via Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

The update came as Yorkville district officials held parent informational meetings on Tuesday, July 14, on what returning to school in the fall potentially would look like for elementary and grade school students, along with middle and high school students. District officials also outlined what lunch, bus and overall cleaning and sanitizing policies would look like for the fall throughout the two presentations.

Several survey takers wrote that their children did not fare well with e-learning last spring following Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker ordering for schools to close from mid-March through the end of the last school year. Others said society cannot live in fear of the virus and that COVID-19 is no worse than the flu.

"I really want my child to have an in-school interaction with the teacher and fellow students," another survey taker wrote. "That way, I feel like she can grasp the material better and receive better assistance in the case she would need assistance."

Other parents and guardians also expressed concerns about over-sanitizing and whether it would hurt their children to breathe in cleaning product chemicals or weaken their immune systems.

About 18% of families wanted to participate in daily e-learning, according to the survey results.

Survey takers asked school officials what would happen for their child's classroom if a teacher gets sick and expressed concerns about whether there would be enough substitute teachers on staff to help mitigate that potential situation.

"I want them back in school but feel we are definitely not in control of this virus and we will open up a conduit for mass infection," another survey taker wrote. "I am not convinced you can control social distancing time and space adequately. No disrespect meant, but it is a tremendous challenge. Temperature checks are good but are a lagging indicator of infection."

Parents and guardians also expressed concerns about what face-to-face learning would mean for family members in the same household that make them more at risk.

"My oldest is special needs and struggled with online classes but made it work. Being a senior this year is going to be hard, but it would be harder to lose him," one parent or guardian wrote.

"I will protect them no matter what," another parent or guardian wrote. "I will not lose a child or family member to COVID because of school when there are clearly online options."

About 19% of survey takers were in favor of blended or hybrid learning, which would entail a combination of face-to-face and online instruction, for early childhood through eighth grades. Nearly 15% of survey takers were in favor of hybrid learning for high school.

"My son wants to attend school for his senior year," a survey taker wrote. "Blended would give him that but also keep kids more distanced."

Less than 1% of families, or 28 participants, were planning to enroll their children in a private or charter school or to homeschool their children and not enroll their children as a student within the Yorkville school district, according to survey results.

More than half of survey takers said their child would plan to take district-provided bus transportation to and from school for the fall, according to survey results.

Out of the 3,900 parents and guardians who completed the district's survey, 1,171 had students in high school and 573 had children in middle school. There were 386 from Yorkville Intermediate School, 147 from Yorkville Grade School, 385 from Grande Reserve Elementary School, 330 from Circle Center Grade School, 357 from Bristol Bay Elementary School, 426 from Autumn Creek Elementary School and 126 from Bristol Grade School.