ELMHURST – Elmhurst Unit District 205 welcomed back its last wave of students to school last week in a hybrid model as part of a rolling return to in-person learning – even as its superintendent cautions families in a message about rising positive COVID-19 case rates in Elmhurst and DuPage County.

Juniors and seniors returned to York High School this week and eighth graders to middle schools in a blend of in-person and remote learning with students in school two days a week. It followed the return of seventh graders and sophomores the week of Sept. 28, sixth graders and freshmen the week of Sept. 21 and students in grades 1-5 the week of Sept. 14. As of Oct. 6, 82% of District 205 students have opted for hybrid learning.

District 205 was one of the first public school districts in DuPage County to transition back to a form of in-person learning. Districts in Downers Grove, Wheaton and Naperville recently made similar announcements.

Superintendent David Moyer addressed the desires of a return to school and the continued concerns of COVID-19 spread in an Oct. 2 message.

"Our families and staff want nothing more than to return to the days when things were normal," Moyer wrote. "Yet the rising positive case rates in Elmhurst and in DuPage County are a stark reminder that we must be ever vigilant in our fight to prevent the spread of his unpredictable virus."

Moyer cited data that showed COVID-19 cases in Elmhurst have increased by about 30% over the last month, with potential exposures in district schools linked to community activity, including the outbreak of 18 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at the Orangetheory Fitness Studio in Elmhurst.

The district's COVID-19 dashboard shows that there has been 46 students and nine staff members with confirmed positive cases, with 18 of the positive student cases the week of Sept. 28. During the week of Sept. 28, 473 students and 48 staff members were quarantined or had symptomatic cases. That number went down to 202 students and 32 staff the week of Oct. 5.

For the school year, 1,236 students and 195 staff members haver been quarantined or had symptomatic cases.

Moyer noted in his message that there are no cases in which a positive test or the spread of the virus was attributed to district classrooms or school activities.

"Many students and staff have had to self-isolate or quarantine and as a result some students and staff who had originally returned to the classroom for the school year are now learning or working remotely," Moyer wrote in his message.

The community transmission level in DuPage County is considered "moderate," and according to the Northwestern University COVID-19 dashboard, the seven-day rolling average positivity rate is 4.05% for Elmhurst ZIP code 60126, which according to the county's school metrics guidance would recommend a hybrid instructional model.

However, the number of new cases in the Elmhurst zip code per 100,000 population over that same seven-day period is 146.1. DuPage County school metrics guidance recommends remote learning when weekly cases per 100,000 are greater than 100. Other county school metrics include rate of county increase and rate of youth increase, which as of the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3 were considered minimal.

Elmhurst has had 1,034 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the DuPage County Health Department.

A district spokesperson, responding to an inquiry about the differing data points, said that "the health and safety of our students and staff remains our focus. D-205 serves families in Elmhurst, Bensenville, Addison and Oak Brook and follows the recommendations of the DuPage County Health Department. In looking at the DuPage County COVID-19 School Metrics Guidance, the county is listed at moderate level transmission and calls for hybrid instruction."