Sycamore school board discusses COVID-19 vaccines and quarantine for students

SYCAMORE – Sycamore Superintendent Steve Wilder said that the district is in discussion with the DeKalb County Health Department to possibly allow 12 to 15 year-olds to reserve slots at Thursday’s Pfizer clinic, following the announcement this week that federal officials approved use of the vaccine for younger populations.

“We were willing to do a clinic at the high school, but with feedback and the number of requests, we decided to allow a community vaccination clinic,” Wilder said during Tuesday’s Sycamore school board meeting.

During the meeting, members also plans for a full, five-day return to learning during the 2021-2022 school year.

All students will be identified as “in person” unless they or a member of their household is at risk of severe illness.

By the end of the week, the school district will release a form for licensed medical and healthcare workers to complete to document the need for a student to be a remote learner. The forms will be due back June 4.

One of the main topics discussed during the meeting was vaccination. On Monday, the U.S. expanded the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12. Vaccinations will not be required for the 2021-2022 school year.

On Thursday, May 13, the DeKalb Health Department will host a Pfizer vaccination clinic for 16 and 17-year-olds at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center. Registration for a vaccination appointment can be completed on the health department’s website.

The school board also discussed the number of students and faculty in quarantine due to close contact with a person with COVID-19. During the week of May 10, the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard reported that four staff members and 249 students are in quarantine.

“It’s important to tell the community, remind students and their parents, that if they are fully vaccinated, they do not need to be quarantined, even if they are exposed,” Board President Jim Dombek said. “Not requiring to quarantine is a powerful incentive for people to get vaccinated.”

While talking about students being in quarantine, Wilder mentioned that the school district will not require or expect teachers to parallel teach next school year. For kindergarten through fifth grades, the school district will hire teachers specifically for remote-learning students. For sixth through twelfth grades, remote instruction will be delivered by a Sycamore teacher wherever possible and Illinois Virtual School will be recommended.

Staggered school start and dismissal times will continue next school year. A staggered start has reduced the school district’s 21 bus routes down to 15. However, six of those 15 positions will be vacant next school year, creating a need for school bus drivers.

Wilder ended his superintendent’s report by listing the ways school days have changed during the pandemic.

“We have virtual meetings, remote learning, parallel learning and we have realized school can be done differently,” he said. “We can reimagine the school day. We can have flexible modular scheduling, blended and virtual learning, anytime, anyplace and anywhere.”

Wilder said that he has had many requests for a four-day school week and zero and eleventh-hour classes, held before and after the start of the school day.

“After this year, we’ve realized that a school day can look like whatever we want it to,” he said. “We’re only limited by our imagination and our creativity.”

The school board’s final plan for the upcoming school year will be presented during the next meeting, held in person 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, at Sycamore Middle School.