GENEVA – Eight mothers in Geneva District 304 addressed the school board Feb. 8 in a more intense repeat of the previous meeting in which they called out school officials to bring back in-person learning on alternate Fridays, as well as sought a plan for returning to full-time in-class learning.

On Jan. 11, the board approved going to all-remote Fridays instead of every other Friday in the district’s hybrid learning plan. The all-remote Fridays include 2½ hours of face time learning with their teacher and entire class.

Amy Jones, who said she was a local hair dresser, accused board members of bias, saying they were “more interested in pleasing teachers or have another agenda,” except for Michael McCormick.

“We need a board that is unbiased,” Jones said. “And I hope for those of you who are choosing sides that you put your personal agendas aside. … If I can work on my clients five days a week, teachers can teach in person five days a week.”

Stephanie Fellinger said she was speaking to the board for her children and those of other parents “who are angry, upset and frustrated with the board’s recent decision regarding Fridays and the lack of a clear plan to return our children to school full time, in person.”

Fellinger cited school districts in Burr Ridge and Elmhurst opening their schools for full-time in-person learning.

Neither district currently has students back in school full time. Both currently have hybrid plans similar to Geneva’s. Burr Ridge District 180 is planning to bring students back next month and Elmhurst District District 205 plans to bring elementary students back this month, according to news reports.

“Where is the plan to return our children to school?” Fellinger said. “Kids, especially elementary kids, need to be in school and they learn better in person than in a Zoom call.”

She described her children’s Zoom class of 28 young children in front of a computer watching their teacher. She said children are playing with their hair, their pets, siblings, turning the camera on and off, and changing their computer backgrounds.

“They are doing lots of things, but what they are not doing is learning,” Fellinger said. “When I told my … seventh grader that Fridays would be remote, she cried. She sat in my car and cried. She loves school.”

Fellinger and other mothers told the board that the isolation from social and emotional development was harming their children.

“The CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], WHO [World Health Organization], the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. [Anthony] Fauci and many other doctors whom we’ve all listened to … say it is safe now,” Fellinger said. “So what are you waiting for?”

Morgan Barrett said her daughter’s all-remote Friday kindergarten class was “a technical failure.” They had to keep restarting the computer and her daughter could not get back in the class and missed the whole first session.

“I have no doubt that the board’s intentions are good, but I think it’s important for the board to understand how the actual rollout of remote Fridays has been for our littlest learners,” Barrett said. “These are 5- and 6-year-old children and [they] should not be expected to learn or behave or even be treated the same as 18-year-old students.”

Barrett asked if kindergarten through second or third grade could be in school five days a week or at least on Fridays.

Geneva Education Association President Kevin Gannon also spoke to the board, saying when they first approved a hybrid learning plan with alternate Fridays, teachers knew it was a more ambitious plan than other districts were offering.

Teachers saw students struggle with the hybrid model, and others struggled while quarantined because of COVID-19 or other illness, Gannon said.

“The remote-learning Fridays allow teachers to see students three times every week, and all students get to know and engage with each other on Friday,” Gannon said. “This has been a big benefit, especially at the elementary level. It eliminates four-day gaps on alternating Fridays, provides opportunity to catch struggling and quarantined learners.”

Remote-learning Fridays went into effect Jan. 29, the start of the second semester.

Gannon said teachers surveyed supported the all-remote Fridays plan.

During board member comments, Alicia Saxton responded to an assertion that board members are biased.

“My job as a board member is not to make decisions on a personal level,” Saxton said. “My job is to make decisions that will make sure our students and staff and every single person that works in our schools and services our schools remains safe.”

Saxton cited Phase 4 guidelines in the Restore Illinois plan for how schools can be open with social distancing and masks.

“These are the guidelines that govern the decisions that we have to make as a board,” Saxton said. “There is no personal agenda. There is no reason that our board would make this decision other than the safety and following of the guidelines that have been set out for us as an Illinois school district.”

Saxton cautioned parents to do research when sharing articles and quoting from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Everything that we have tried to do this school year is based on the guidance of those places, those doctors and our state,” Saxton said.